Danganronpa: Clinic of Despair
by Gazooki
Summary: For sixteen students of Hope's Peak Academy, waking up in an empty hospital is less than ideal. For Monokuma, however, it's the perfect circumstances for another despairing killing game! Will our students unite through hope, or will they give in to despair? (SYOC CLOSED)
1. Prologue: First Impressions

**Prologue: First Impressions**

"_…And we're gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn!"_

I've experienced some strange stuff in my time, but I don't think there's anything that's going to top waking up to being serenaded by some crazy girl, in English of all things. Actually I don't think she's even noticed I'm awake yet, as she's still warbling away like some demented bird. I groan loudly as my freshly-conscious body stirs, hoping to get the point across and shut this woman up. I'm never letting this happen again if I can help it.

"Oh, hey, you're awake!" she says excitedly. She's right in front of me, blocking my field of vision, so I can't really help but focus on her looks. Her hair is all over the place, long, brown and wavy, and it looks in desperate need of a good brushing. Her dress sense isn't much better, consisting of a very simple red top with grey sleeves poking out from underneath, suggesting another layer, and grey bottoms. And I thought _I_ looked dishevelled. Her left sleeve seems to be a little thicker than the other, but maybe that's just a trick of the light. As for her physique, well, let's just say puberty dealt her a shit hand. Best not _actually _say anything, though, I can hardly see that going down well.

"Yes, I am awake," I say hoarsely, my throat feeling dry and constricted. Does this always happen when I wake up? Can't really tell, it's been a while. I sit up, bringing myself level with her crouched form, and as I glance downwards briefly I can't help but notice her feet are completely bare, and that she's perched on top of a table. Is that not a health hazard?

Now that I know I'm able to move, I can finally look around this place I've found myself in, and I very quickly note that we're in some kind of waiting room, which is curiously empty. Chairs lie vacated all around, and even the receptionist's chair is bare. I'm laid out across two chairs hastily pushed together to make a less-than-comfortable resting place, and I very quickly turn myself around to face the table. Another odd curiosity I notice is that wherever you'd expect to see a window in an ordinary waiting area, there are giant sheets of metal in place, held into place with huge bolts.

"Sooooooooo, who're you then?" the girl asks, dragging me away from the intrigue. "And more importantly, how come you were just lying on the floor?" That's a damn good question actually, how _did_ I get here? Time to dial it back a bit, to this morning to be precise…

* * *

><p>Today marks the first day of a new era for me. Today is my first day at Hope's Peak Academy. Alongside fifteen other students from across the country, I've been chosen to represent the essence of hope, eschewing an ordinary education to become a shining example of the achievements possible for those with exceptional talents. Over the years, many extraordinary individuals have graduated from this school and had huge influences not just in their areas of expertise, but on the entire world. Today, I'll be hoping to become a part of that upper echelon.<p>

My talent might be considered a bit unusual, because it's not something that can really be perfected or refined on its own. It's something that's more innate, more difficult to comprehend how exactly it can be considered 'Ultimate', but nevertheless, it's the reason I'm here. Every year, there's this ballot they hold that lets one lucky student have the chance to join Hope's Peak Academy… but I didn't need that, because I'm the Ultimate Insomniac.

It's funny, because before I got the letter telling me I was accepted to Hope's Peak Academy, I didn't really think it was a talent, it was kind of just who I was, but someone here begged to differ, and I guess I should be thankful. Just means I'll have all the time in the world to improve myself and come out the other side as a symbol of hope.

Being awake for all those extra hours might well give me a bit of an edge. In that time most people spend sleeping, I'm trawling the deepest depths of the internet for all sorts of information, ranging from the hundredth digit of pi to the ancient gods of Mesopotamia (I'm particularly partial to Ereshkigal myself). Maybe it's not quite as impressive as those folks who can reel off dates or memorise a deck of cards while dangling from a rope over a ravine, but it has to count for something, right? One thing's for sure, I'm not about to waste all the time that's been given to me.

It's not all good news, though. A few days without sleep and you start going crazy. The boundaries between dreams and reality blur and you start hallucinating because your brain's not had chance to rest and has no idea what the hell is going on. When that kicks in, you know you're in trouble. And let's not even get started on the soul-crushing boredom of it all; the hours you spend waiting, hoping to fall asleep, before thinking 'screw it' and getting up at 4am to make chocolate pudding. Or that might just be me.

It's almost time. I'm standing outside the front gates, looking up at this famous building, its emblem gleaming in the sunlight of a September morning. I'm not gonna lie, I'm fairly excited to be stood here right now, ready to walk in and become part of something massive. Hell I'm so excited I skipped breakfast, although I could have easily just gone and made some whenever I wanted. It was crazy enough just imagining this place, but actually _being_ here? Doesn't get much better than this. Every kid who knows what's up wants to get into Hope's Peak Academy, and even though my classmates might reckon I kind of cheated to get in here, I know the teachers here have made the right choice scouting me out. This is my big chance to prove to everyone that what I am is totally cool and not some kind of disease to be eradicated.

I exhale as my hand touches the door handle and the big entrance doors swing open. This is the moment everyone dreams of, stepping into the entrance hall and officially becoming enrolled in the greatest school in the country, if not the world. I feel a rush of emotions, elation, curiosity, apprehension, fear, all rolling into one huge wave, melding into something that my mind just can't comprehend. Then my stomach drops, probably because I'm starving and haven't had anything since yesterday. Suddenly I don't feel so great. The world around me goes wobbly and I collapse to the floor, an intense dizziness giving the sensation of a ship out at sea. My eyes close. I'm losing consciousness. I guess I'm so exhausted that I'm about to…

* * *

><p>"…pass out?" I hear a voice ask, and I jolt back to reality to find this manic girl perched precariously on the edge of the table, almost right in my face. "Because that's what happened to me, and everyone else, and it was when we all set foot in Hope's Peak…"<p>

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up," I say, raising my hands. This girl talks _way_ too fast for me to be able to keep track. "You're saying you're from Hope's Peak Academy too? And there's other people from there in here too? And everyone else passed out like me?"

"Ding ding ding! Looks like someone's on the ball!" She leaps off the coffee table and practically lands in my lap, sending the chair I'm sitting on tumbling backwards. Now we're both sprawled across the floor in a pile. She springs up off me pretty quickly and flips the chair back up, choosing to continue perching on furniture as I get back to my feet. Since I've only been awake a few minutes, everything actually feels kind of stable for once.

"Okay…" Is it just me, or does this seem just a little bit ridiculous? A bunch of students just randomly collapsing all at once? That's not right, surely? "Anyway, you wanted to know my name. I'm Shinji Yoshida, Ultimate Insomniac." I offer my hand in greeting and as she grabs it and almost yanks it out of its socket with her vigorous handshake. I very quickly regret ever allowing myself to get within twenty feet of this girl.

"Nice to meet ya, Shinji-yoooooooooo! I'm Hikari Himura! Let's blow some stuff up!" For someone with such a boring and common name, she's anything but. Then again, with my name, can I really criticise? I hear something ping in my pocket, and completely unaware that I even had anything in there, I instinctively reach into it and pull out some kind of electronic device. Where the hell'd this come from? Ah, who cares, let's see why it's pinging.

The first thing that flashes up on the screen when I boot it up is my name, then I see my own mug staring back at me with its tired red eyes and dark unkempt hair. The clothing I'm wearing in the photo matches my outfit today as well, a black blazer, white shirt and charcoal trousers, but since that's just a plain old school uniform, that's not too unusual in and of itself. Tired of looking at myself, I swipe at the screen, hoping it'll make my face go away, and it scrolls to some sort of report card on Hikari. The first thing I notice is her title, 'Ultimate Pyrotechnician.'

"You're… an explosives expert?" I ask cautiously. If I was her dad I would never have even _dreamed_ of letting her near any explosives. Wonder how many people she's killed, accidentally or otherwise?

"Yup!" she squeals with delight, sticking a thumb to her rather lacking chest proudly. I check the profile again just to be sure, and it confirms she's a pyrotechnician who, unsurprisingly, likes fire, cooking and music. Sounds like the perfect person to hire for a party, if you _really_ hate all your guests and wish to see them blown to pieces. "You remember the big fireworks display in Tokyo at New Year's? All my own work! Did you see it?"

"Well, yeah…" Is that a joke? Everyone in Japan could probably see those from their window, the amount of pyrotechnics went into that display. You could probably start a war with all those explosives she got through.

"I only know one person who didn't see it, and that's my grandpa, and he's blind, and deaf, and kind of dead as well…" Umm, did you blow him up, by any chance? Did you guys have to pay for a cremation or did you just throw him onto a bonfire? "But anyway, how about I go introduce you to some of the others? They might like you! I know I sure do! Then again, I like everyone!" You know what? I'm _really _not sure what to make of Hikari. It seems like she's got this infinite well of energy and she's trying her hardest to expel as much of that energy as possible in the shortest feasible timeframe. Even my kid sister's not this hyperactive after eating a whole bag of gummy sweets.

"I suppose that'd be nice," I say reluctantly, and Hikari grabs my left hand in her right hand, practically dragging me out of the waiting room and down a corridor. As we pass through the door, I see a sign indicating the location of various facilities, one of which is a ward. I guess this must be a hospital of some kind.

"This is gonna be fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!" she screams excitedly as she trots down the corridor, her bare feet slapping against the surface of the floor.

"There's nothing fun about being in hospital," I protest. "I should know." This brings her to a halt, and she spins around to face me. I expect her to have a face like thunder, but she's still grinning like a complete goof.

"Oh, but there is! Did you know that you can make bombs out of simple household chemicals? Well, just imagine what you can do with some of the stuff they've got in here!" I'd rather not, if that's alright. Can I go back to being unconscious? Some of the sedatives they've got in here might do the trick. Before I know it, my arm is being jerked again as Hikari continues to race down the corridor. What is _with_ this girl? I mean, it's nice to see someone who just doesn't give a shit, but there's gotta be boundaries somewhere. Where does this even end?

"Do you even know where you're going?" I ask as we pass what feels like a thousand doors.

"Have faith, Shinji, I know exactly where I'm going!" She refuses to let go, her grip so tight that I'm sure the circulation will close off any minute now. If it does, we're in the right place to sort that. Eventually we stop outside a door with a sign outside it with a crossed set of cutlery, which I take to be a cafeteria of some kind. Makes sense that we'd meet people here. Speaking of people, how come I've not seen anyone else around here? You'd think the corridors would be teeming with doctors transferring patients to different wards, visitors coming in to see their loved ones or someone rushing to make an appointment they completely forgot about. Perhaps they're all in here trying to break the record for the world's biggest lunch break, and Hikari's grand plan involves introducing me to an entire hospital all at the same time.

"Please tell me we're there," I say, and my hand is suddenly released from the vice-like grip of Hikari Himura, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician whose personality seems somewhat ill-suited for such a hazardous occupation. That seems like a good sign. Next time, I'm going to have to ask to be allowed to go at my own pace, lest my arm becomes dislocated.

"Oh, yeah!" she announces, giggling. "You're gonna looooooove this crazy bunch! They're all weirdos like you so you should fit right in!" Did she just… insult me? Frankly I can't even tell, her intonation certainly didn't sound that way inclined, so I might as well let it slide. No point antagonising myself now, is there? Hikari takes the lead, barging through the door with the energy of one of her most potent explosives and I can hear her nattering away at the speed of light. I take some time to collect myself, slightly overwhelmed by everything that's going on here, then turn towards the cafeteria, where I'll be meeting some of my prospective classmates. Perhaps they can shed a bit of light on this whole thing…

**A.N.: Welcome to my first attempt at an SYOC fic. Had this idea for quite a while before actually sitting down and writing it, but here it is, at long last. I'll be looking for seven boys and seven girls to bring the numbers up to the usual sixteen students, and they'll most likely be accepted on a first-come first-served basis, so don't hang about, get them in! (Big thanks to my friend IfTimeWasStill for providing me with Hikari Himura. She's gonna be so much fun to write.)**

**Of course, like the Killing Game itself, there have to be rules in place to stop things getting out of hand, so here they are:**

**1. OC submission will ONLY be accepted via PM. Anything submitted in the reviews will be rejected, no matter how good it is. **

**2. Any OC submissions that don't follow the form provided below will also be rejected. Providing additional info is fine, of course, but do try to fit it into the form if you can.**

**3. Don't submit characters that you've submitted to other SYOC fics. I'll be looking out for anything that sounds familiar, and if it crops up somewhere else (like a certain Czech character I've seen pop up twice in unrelated fics) then it's being rejected. **

**4. Variants of the Ultimate/SHSL Detective/?/Hope will all be thrown out. We've seen those twists before, and it's highly unlikely that lightning will strike twice.**

**5. Do try and be original with these. Not strictly a rule as such, but it'd be much appreciated if you can think of exciting new talents that haven't been done to death. This won't be as strictly monitored as the others, but keep it in mind when submitting.**

**6. No reserving spots in the review section or via PM. I'm not holding up the fic or potentially having to cut a cool character just to give someone time to come up with something. If you want in, then make a submission. **

**Alright, that should probably do it. I'll be keeping tabs here and in the summary of how many slots remain open, and for every five or so characters, I'll update with a new chapter introducing them to keep the flow going. Plus, I find that trying to introduce everyone in one chapter makes it difficult to memorise who's who, so hopefully by splitting it up it'll help with that. Good luck, and happy submitting!**

**EDIT: SYOC is now CLOSED! Full list of accepted OCs will be posted at the end of the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who submitted!**

**OC submission form (once again thanks to IfTimeWasStill for helping put this together)**

**Name:**

**Age (15-18):**

**Gender:**

**Ultimate/SHSL Talent:**

**Physical Description (weight, height, appearance, clothing etc.):**

**Personality:**

**Speech/Mannerisms:**

**Background (significant past events, family, secrets):**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Possible Motive:**

**Role during Investigation/Trial:**


	2. Prologue: Introductions I

Prologue: Introductions I

I don't have much choice but to follow in Hikari's bare footsteps and enter the cafeteria, where I spy several other students dotted around. The cafeteria is quite expansive, and like everything else in the hospital, the dominant colour is a pearly white, which when mixed with the fluorescent neon strips on the ceiling leads to a lot of glare. A number of the smaller tables set out are occupied, but the much larger table in the middle remains empty. Around the back of the cafeteria stand several counters and shelves, all lined with items of food, and I spy Hikari in the process of ransacking them. There's a door at the back which I assume leads to the kitchen. At least we're not about to starve to death in this seemingly empty hospital.

I'm aware that I'm just standing in the doorway staring into the distance, and even more aware of a lull in conversation as other people turn to stare at me. I give a little wave to assure everyone I'm not a threat and seat myself at the nearest table. There's a very foreign-looking girl sat across from me who appears to be sketching something on a piece of paper. Her olive skin and dark hair with gold and silver streaks suggest her origins lie in a far-flung country, as does her propensity for green and brown gear. She seriously looks like she's been plucked out of a jungle.

"And this bit goes here… Oh?" She looks up, finally noticing my presence, and doesn't seem too dismayed to find some random guy appearing in front of her. She sure doesn't sound like she's from around here, either. Some sort of Hispanic accent is my best guess. "Were you here from Hope's Peak Academy too?"

"Yeah," I say, getting straight down to business. "Name's Shinji Yoshida. I'm the Ultimate Insomniac. And you are?" She adjusts her seating position, pushing the sheet of paper aside for a moment while she introduces herself.

"They call me Dulce-Corazon Adora, the Ultimate Cartographer," she says with pride. "Nice to meet you." What even is that name? Did her parents knock over a Scrabble board and decide the resulting jumble of letters were the perfect name? It's unique, I'll grant them that much. My new device pings again, and consulting it doesn't really tell me much more about her, although in the image provided, I spot some sort of silver pendant hung around her neck. The image is too small to tell what it is, though.

"So that drawing, that's a map, right?" I ask. It's my duty to pretend to be interested in the affairs of others at a time like this.

"Yep," she confirms, smiling all the while. "Which way you come from, Shinji?"

"Uhhh…" I have no idea what direction it was, I was too busy focusing on my arm and hoping it wouldn't fall off. "Is there a waiting room on that map? I seem to remember coming from one." Dulce-Corazan (I can't keep using that full name, that's just ridiculous) leans over the table, pencil outstretched, consulting her map of wisdom.

"Oh yeah, I see it!" she says with enthusiasm, striding around the table while pulling the map towards me. Just from a glance, I can tell there's an incredible amount of thought and detail going into this map. Everything is labelled in loopy handwriting, written in her native language, meaning nobody else in here will have any hope of reading it.

"See, we're here in the cafeteria now," she tells me, placing the pencil down on the exact table of the cafeteria we occupy. "Now, sounds like you came from right the way over here…" She draws a precise line from where we're sat all the way back along the corridors, which I note is labelled 'Los Dormitorios', right the way back to the waiting room I was in before, somehow managing to pinpoint the exact place I woke up in. She may well be the Ultimate Navigator too.

"Yeah, that looks about right," I say. "So wait, the corridor I passed through is a dormitory?" Do you even get those in hospitals? Maybe she just means they're private rooms. Spanish isn't one of my stronger languages.

"You got it. Relax, though, everything's fine. They'll probably come let us go soon." Whoever they are, they're being seriously stealthy. I didn't see another soul in that corridor, or the creepy waiting room. "Oh yeah, before I forget, there's someone else I can introduce you to. Come on, _vamonos_!" Dulce (screw it, I'm sticking with that) stands upright, sweeping the map and the hat up off the table and running over to another table. Do I really have any choice but to follow?

At the other table, Dulce seems to be shaking someone by the shoulder. I go round the other side of the table to get a better look at the second person; it appears to be another girl, this time adorned in a green pyjama one-piece with white polka-dots. I take it the nightcap that's lying on the table is hers too. After a few seconds of gently shaking her, Dulce backs off as the sleeping girl stirs at last, her shoulder-length white hair falling across her face. She very slowly brushes it away with her hands and rubs her eyes before opening them and seeing me.

"Nayumi, this is Shinji. He's uh… what were you again?"

"Insomniac," I answer without hesitation. Is my talent really all that relevant right now?

"Oh… hello. I'm Nayumi Miyamoto…" Aaaaaaaaand she's out like a light. She must've only been awake for about fifteen seconds before nodding off again. Well then, looks like I'm going to have to consult the tablet for this. Nayumi's page automatically boots, and when I see what her talent is, I'm incredulous.

'Nayumi Miyamoto: Ultimate Sleeper.' You have _got_ to be kidding me. What are the chances of someone who is literally my exact opposite ending up here? That's some freakish coincidence right there. I doubt I'll get much more out of her, so I ask Dulce for any interesting titbits she can provide.

"Well, she didn't have much to say to me, but apparently her dad's famous or something," she tells me, absent-mindedly twirling her hair around her pencil. "She seems nice though."

"I guess so," I concur, although it's difficult to judge someone after half a sentence. I'll have to come back to her later I suppose.

"You ain't met many of the others yet, have you?" Dulce asks. I'm forced to concede that I haven't, having come straight here from the waiting room. "Alright, well there's a coupla guys in here too, so feel free to go say hi!" Now, usually I wouldn't comply, but if I'm gonna be spending all my time around these people then I suppose it's better for them to know who I am. I head in the general direction that Dulce points and spy the two guys she was referring to. One of them looks metal as hell and the other one's swinging his arms around like some sort of lunatic. Think I know which one I'd rather talk to first.

The tall guy's staying relatively still so I take some time to just observe him. His hair is in a long black braid, which is a bit more reserved than I expected given his clothing. He's got the usual hardcore thing going on, with his ripped jeans and his mahogany jacket, but he has a ton of accessories too. Fingerless gloves, headphones, a scarf _and_ sunglasses? How do you even keep track of all that? He does look a bit scary, so I approach him carefully and introduce myself in as polite a manner as I can. He flashes me a smile and urges me not to worry.

"Name's Haruki Shinozaki, the Ultimate Singer. Nice to meet you, man." He seems very non-threatening all of a sudden. I check my little device and realise I've heard of this guy before. If I recall, he did a couple of songs with some light music group frontlined by this _really_ weird chick. They didn't last long after that, but this guy's gone on and obviously done pretty well for himself. I can't help but notice him giving me a very concerned look, though.

"You alright, dude? You don't look it," he observes, and while it's nice that he's worried about my welfare, I've definitely felt worse. The walls haven't even started rippling yet.

"I'm an insomniac, I'm used to it," I assure him, and that seems to calm him somewhat.

"Oh, that's good to hear," he says. "Glad to see you don't let that get you down." Well, if I let it get me down, I sure as hell wouldn't be here right now, would I? Unless they let average scruffy students in. Oh wait, they do.

"Just means I have a lot more time on my hands is all," I say.

"Good attitude to have." He folds his arms, not in a particularly defiant way, just probably out of habit, although I do feel as though he's about to give a speech. "You only get so much time on this Earth, so use it wisely. And that applies twice as much to you, Shinji. Make sure you keep yourself occupied. Allow yourself to grow, and most importantly of all, have a goal. Shoot for the stars! You're one of the elite, and you're only gonna get one shot, so don't waste it…"

"Hey, Haruki, who's this?" The swinging guy from earlier is here, and he's dressed like my dad. Except my dad wouldn't be seen dead wearing a tan polo shirt. The trousers seem to fit though. The guy's hair is the same colour as Haruki's but much shorter and neater, and his eyes are a shade of green.

"This is Shinji Yoshida, the Ultimate Insomniac," Haruki says patiently. The newbie starts grinning and rubbing his hands together, rocking on his heels.

"Ohohoho, I've never met an insomniac before! I'm Akira Ueda! Hope you like golf, because, well…" That device of mine chimes once again, and to nobody's surprise, it turns out Akira is the Ultimate Golfer. This is confirmed when he spends the next ten minutes explaining golf to me. It's the refresher course I never knew I needed. I zone out for a while and when I properly start listening again, he's in the middle of an anecdote. "This one time, I hit it so hard nobody even knew where it went, and we searched ALL night for it! Of course, the next morning, it turned out it was in the one place nobody thought to look, in the bottom of the hole, so I had to go all the way back to the clubhouse and buy every single person in that clubhouse champagne. Talk about having an albatross round your neck…" Two things, one, does this guy ever shut up, and two, what's an albatross got to do with anything?

"You lost me when you were talking about the quality of the green," I say, recalling a very brief snippet just before every word started becoming clumped together in an awful foggy mess of confusion.

"No worries, man, I'm sure you'll soon come to understand everything there is to know about the world's greatest sport!" That grin of his is slightly unnerving. I can tell he's enthusiastic about golf and everything associated with it, but I can't decide whether his love for the sport is misplaced or not. Time will tell, I suppose. Time that'll drag on even more than usual if he keeps this up. "Now, this old coach of mine, he lost his hand to a crocodile a long time ago, and he apparently taught someone in America with the world's longest shot…" I'm done. There's only so much golf I can take in a day, and that limit had been exceeded by quite some amount.

"We've got all the time in the world to tell stories," I say interrupting Akira before he can get to what he would probably refer to as 'the good part'. "Plus, I've still got other people to meet. Kinda need to do that."

"Alright then," he says, seemingly pretty relaxed about the whole thing. "But if you ever feel the urge to hear the thrilling conclusion, you know where to find me!" Yeah, in all of the places I won't be. I look back towards the Ultimate Singer, hoping for further approval of my decision, and he's just stood there smiling, his headphones over his ears. Clever bastard.

I take a glance at the other table I saw occupied, and to my dismay, Hikari is there talking to some pale girl with long white hair, dressed in a standard-looking school uniform with a red blazer. I have an _extremely_ bad feeling about this. As I approach the table, Hikari points in my direction and the girl stands up as she turns to face me. Her skirt is of the black pleated variety, just above her knees, and she's wearing long socks and brown shoes. Quite a lot of guys might find some appeal in this look, but I've not hit middle-age perversion just yet.

"Oh, so _you're _the one Hikari here was talking about," she says rather snootily, as though I'm below her. Looks can be deceptive, it would seem. "You look weak. I suppose I'd better introduce myself though. My name is Alicia Arcuarius." I instinctively grab the tablet, and etched upon her face is an expression of disdain at my reliance on technology. Would've helped if she'd actually mentioned being the Ultimate Archer.

"That's not quite the title I was expecting," I say, hoping that somehow I'll be able to salvage this conversation.

"Are you basing that solely off my looks? Because if you are, then you're just like all those other men! It's men like you causing all the problems in this world!" Ouch. That went badly. Can we try that again?

"No, that's not what I meant at all…" Sure, she might look kind of sweet and innocent, but beneath that exterior lies a cold-blooded killer.

"Oh, that's what you men all say! And don't even think about saying 'not all men!' because otherwise, you'll end up with one of my arrows in your chest!" She reaches back towards the table, grabbing a flint arrowhead to demonstrate her point. I don't know if she made that or someone else supplied it. Either way, it looks nasty.

"Hey, Shinji, wassup?" Hikari asks as she joins my side.

"Hikari, you assured me that this man would be a pillar of society, but instead he's just proved my point."

"I did nothing of the sort!" I iterate, raising my hands in protest. "_She's _the one with the problem, not me."

"So, who's winning?" Hikari asks. I wasn't aware we were supposed to be in competition, but if I had to choose, I'd say Alicia's currently thrashing me.

"Feminism," I answer.

"Huh? But there's nobody by that name here. Is there a third party? Hey, feminism, come out and plaaaaaaaaay!" Hikari crawls underneath the nearest table in search of someone who doesn't exist.

"Sorry about her," I say. "She can be a bit of a handful." Alicia just scoffs and rolls her eyes at me, presumably thinking I've made some sort of misogynistic statement. That's far from what I was going for.

The only verbal response I get is a "hmph!" as she walks away, and I chase after Hikari, who's still crawling under tables and has crumbs in her hair. She's surprisingly quick, and I'm not in the best shape, so I give up on that for the time being and see what food is on offer. They've got a huge assortment here, ranging from traditional Japanese dishes to some stuff on the shelves in English packaging.

I'm a bit concerned about taking anything, but thus far I haven't seen anyone serving. Where is everyone if they aren't here? Pushing this to the back of my mind while I quell my hunger, I pluck a sandwich off the shelf and tuck in, savouring that feeling of nourishment that my body was sorely lacking before. Hopefully this will give me enough energy to last the day without feeling particularly ill. Cheese and cucumber certainly has more flavour to it than the instant ramen I usually eat, at any rate.

"Shinjiiiiiiii!" Hikari yells for my assistance, and I no longer care about the repercussions of stealing hospital food. She's managed to somehow get herself wedged between two tables and a chair, so I'm forced to shove the rest of the sandwich into my mouth and run to her side, pulling the two tables apart so she can get out. In a display of ecstasy and affection, she drapes an arm around my shoulder and starts singing down my ear. Again. Luckily I've got the perfect plan in place.

"Hey, I think I just saw Feminism!" I exclaim, pointing to the cafeteria doorway. She immediately runs off down the corridor after the concept of equal rights for women, and I get a bit of peace and quiet before realising I've got no idea where she's gone, and leaving her unattended like that could go very badly wrong for us all. I take one last look back across the cafeteria, noticing that Alicia is glaring at me while whittling away at one of her arrowheads, and make my way out of the cafeteria after the maelstrom of terror they call the Ultimate Pyrotechnician.

**A.N.: Many thanks to everyone who submitted their characters. I wasn't expecting such a huge response, but I'm glad I got it. Of course, unfortunately, the sheer number of submissions I received meant I couldn't take everyone's, and to everyone who didn't make it, I hope you guys find someone who can put your OC to good use. Meanwhile, I should congratulate the lucky fourteen who made it. Without further ado, here's the full cast:**

**Shinji Yoshida (Ultimate Insomniac): Gazooki (me!)**

**Hikari Himura (Ultimate Pyrotechnician): IfTimeWasStill **

**Dulce-Corazon Adora (Ultimate Cartographer): SDHS Otaku**

**Nayumi Miyamoto (Ultimate Sleeper): SpiritSenpai**

**Haruki Shinozaki (Ultimate Singer): Shadowplayer360**

**Akira Ueda (Ultimate Golfer): A. Zarko**

**Alicia Arcuarius (Ultimate Archer): Alice A.V.D.T. McDowell**

**Daisuke Kobayashi (Ultimate Critic): ApexUtopia**

**Eiko Uno (Ultimate Cult Leader): ninjedi**

**Haru Nishishoka (Ultimate Hero): reven228**

**Rin Hinamoto (Ultimate Librarian): JokersMaze**

**Hatoyama Saburo (Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist): Susurruses**

**Zange Kishima (Ultimate Burglar): VortexOblivion**

**Nanima Shinogani (Ultimate Internet Star): TheAnimeFreakOutFan**

**Eizou Nojima (Ultimate Mariner): Unify**

**Ryusuke Takeyama (Ultimate Bodyguard): KomoriRin**

**Thanks to all of you once again for sending me such awesome characters, it'll be a pleasure writing this lot. Also special thanks to IfTimeWasStill for helping me wade through the backlog of submissions and ultimately make the right decisions on who stayed and who went. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and stay tuned for more Clinic of Despair!**


	3. Prologue: Introductions II

Prologue: Introductions II

As I exit the cafeteria, I look up and down the corridor, my eyes searching for Hikari, but there's no sign of her. Across the corridor, I spot another room, and my instinct tells me I should check it just in case. I open it up and find a room full of washing machines, with a long washing line strewn across the ceiling. On top of each washing machine is an empty laundry basket, and propped up against the far wall is a set of ironing boards. This is an odd place to have a laundry room.

In the far right corner, there's a gaudy yellow surveillance camera. A monitor of the same colour sits not far from it. Come to think of it, I think I saw something like that in the cafeteria when talking to Alicia. Guess they're tightening up the security in this place.

There's no sign of Hikari in here, but stood next to one of the washing machines is a barrel-chested guy with a grey sleeveless shirt and brown trousers talking to a pale Gothic-looking girl. Her aqua-blue hair is tied in a braid and her clothing is elegant, comprised of a black shirtwaist complemented by a red tartan tie and skirt and black knee-high boots. I don't have much choice but to interrupt and introduce myself, since there's a chance they know where Hikari went.

"Oi, have either of you seen a girl round here? Tall, crazy hair, can't sit still, likes explosives…" Both students have a look of complete bewilderment on their faces, as well they might, given the circumstances of my arrival. "Oh yeah, suppose neither of you have any idea who I am, do you? Name's Shinji Yoshida, the Ultimate Insomniac."

"Well, howdy there!" the girl says, stepping forward. "The name's Zange Kishima! Nice to meet ya!"Her name is obviously Japanese, and she definitely looks Japanese, but that's an odd dialect. Sounds like Kansai, but at the same time, it somehow doesn't. I'm left little time to ponder this as my handy tablet thing provides me with some extra information on Zange, the Ultimate Burglar. Now that this has been brought to my attention, she totally looks the type who'd sneak into a museum in the dead of night and make off with a load of priceless gemstones.

"Interesting talent, that," I say. Wonder how she discovered that?

"Yeah, I was kinda born into it," she replies. "Now, they call me the Burglar of Justice!"

"Who does?"

"News reporters, silly! And of course, myself! Y'all better know that I only steal from those who deserve it!" That totally reminds me of a news article I saw a couple of months back. Guess there's no harm in enquiring.

"Hold on, are you the one that stole that painting from the Kuzuryuu mansion?" The police have been vigorously searching for a suspect for months, probably fearing for their lives. If a yakuza boss tells you he wants his painting back, you better damn well hope you find it.

"Well shucks, how'd you guess?" She starts giggling, seemingly happy that she's been recognised. "Yeah, that was my biggest job yet. Kinda lucky Hope's Peak were willin' to lend a hand and give the Burglar of Justice a chance to truly shine!" Wait, so the academy was in on that? The way it's been worded certainly implies it, although it could simply refer to them giving her refuge as a student of theirs, which pretty much grants her immunity to arrest. Either way, Hope's Peak have involved themselves in something shady taking this girl on. She seems nice enough though, and from what she's said, probably won't try and pinch any of my stuff.

The big guy must have got bored with our conversation, as he's sat in a corner next to a pile of sheets whittling away at something grey and round with a pocket knife. I'd try and guess his talent, but of course, it's better to get the answer from the horse's mouth. He sees my approach and puts the knife away in one of the massive pouches on the thigh of his trousers.

"So you wanna know who I am, huh?" His voice is almost as gravelly as the rock he's holding. "I'm Eizou Nojima, the Ultimate Mariner. Truth be told, I'd rather be known as the Ultimate Geologist." I consult the device once more, and sure enough, his list of interests consists of geology and not much else.

"How come you're the Ultimate Mariner then?" I ask. Usually, Hope's Peak Academy students are recognised for talents they've devoted their lives to, which shines through and sets them apart from the rest of the crowd. It's unusual to find someone whose primary passion is overlooked in favour of something totally different.

"All the rocks you find on the mainland, anyone can find," he explains. "Sailing was just a means to an end, but nobody else has battled such rough seas alone in pursuit of their hobby. I set out trying to become a geologist, came back to find out I'm more famous for my sailing. Major bummer, man!" In a way I suppose I can draw comparisons with myself here. Both of us are here because of something that's simply second nature to us. The big difference is that he's been and done some extraordinary stuff, while I just stayed up really late.

"Well, what matters is you made it in," I say, hoping that might provide a crumb of comfort. It would be ill-advised to start a fight with this guy, that's for sure. Just look at those arms; they're like boughs of sturdy oak. Imagine having those wrapped around you. But never mind that, I've been distracted from finding Hikari. Who knows what manner of chaos she's causing right now?

"Even so, I'd prefer to be the Ultimate Geologist. That's just how it is. My passion lies in geology, not sailing. I mean, how do you feel about being labelled as the Ultimate Insomniac? You're basically the best at not sleeping. That can't be any fun."

"I came to terms with my insomnia a long time ago," I tell Eizou. "Sometimes it does suck, yes, but I don't really have much choice in the matter."

"You could try sleeping pills," Eizou suggests, as though that's not something I've already heard a hundred times before. I've had them prescribed to me before, and it just never works out. Either I don't stick with it for long enough or I start getting all the horrid side-effects.

"I'd rather not." I turn to leave, thinking we're done, but he yells for me to stop. I spin back round slowly and he has the most terrifying expression on his face, his brow creased and his teeth clenched as though he's massively constipated and is giving it a massive push.

"I just remembered… that girl you were talking about, does she speak English?" Sounds like Hikari alright.

"Well, I don't know if she speaks it, but she sings it rather well." I'm lying, of course; her singing is terribly off-key, unless those songs are meant to be deliberately bad.

"She went off back down the corridor. There's a path to the other side of the hospital there. Further up from here is a ward, but it's completely empty. Where the hell is everyone?" That's the big question on everybody's minds today. How can a hospital, especially one of this size, be completely devoid of patients and staff? From what I know, hospitals are chaotic even at the best of times, so there should definitely be traffic moving up and down those corridors. Even weirder is the totally empty ward Eizou mentioned. Even if there were no patients, you'd at least expect the cleaners to be in there making sure everything was spotless.

Never mind all that now, though. If I don't find Hikari, there might not even be a hospital left soon. I thank Eizou for the information and set off, leaving him with the Burglar of Justice. He said to turn back so that's what I do, ignoring the empty ward for the time being. The corridor splits off to the left in between two dorm rooms, and since this would presumably be far quicker than going all the way round, I don't hesitate to take the shortcut. It's a very bare corridor, with just a unisex bathroom and some offices dotted along it. I start getting this weird feeling that someone's watching me, so I decide not to stick around in this corridor for long.

I emerge in another waiting room, and along with another one of those cameras with a matching monitor, there's a big sign indicating this is the emergency ward. The entrance on the far side has been shut, with a huge metal bar wedged between the double doors and secured in place with a large padlocked chain. Now that is odd. Is this a quarantine zone or something? Was there some kind of outbreak at Hope's Peak that's led to us being locked in here for our own safety? Come to think of it, we did all collapse at the entrance, apparently, so that sure seems to be the case.

I hear voices shouting about something, and I know for a fact my mind's not playing any tricks on me right now, so I follow the sound to its source, an operating theatre. It's not a particularly large one, but it's big enough to get a team of surgeons in to work on a patient. I crack open the door and spy three people through the gap. I decide to listen in for a short while to see what's going on in there.

"The very concept of some omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent deity watching over the entirety of the Multiverse is simply preposterous!" one very upper-class voice declares.

"I agree," a calmer and more measured voice concurs. "But the denizens of the third moon of Xandyth may beg to differ. Their almighty King Zaphod the Seven-Hundredth is as close to a god as any being in this universe!"

"But guys, the Green Ram is the one true god," a quieter, higher-pitched voice interjects.

"Be quiet! I don't have time for weak arguments," says the first voice once more. I open the door fully at this point and finally get a good look at the three students taking part in this debate. One of the guys is wearing a tuxedo with a silver tie, black-rimmed glasses and shiny dark hair like obsidian. The other guy has a smart uniform on with a grey blazer and a dark blue tie, and he has some sort of weird charm hanging from the left side of his hair made of feathers. There's also an assortment of coloured pens hanging from his pocket.

"A messenger from the Green Ram!" squeals a girl who has a passion for the colour green. Her hair is exactly the same shade as the jacket she's wearing, which incidentally is several sizes too big. Just look at those sleeves, they're hanging halfway down to her knees! Beneath the jacket is a green shirt, ripped jeans and black boots.

"All I see is a dishevelled high school student," the posh twat in the tuxedo remarks. "Speak, boy! Or have you been rendered mute by my very presence?"

"I'm Shinji. Shinji Yoshida. Ultimate Insomniac. And I have no idea what this green ram thing is…" The girl looks down at the floor downheartedly, while I see a smirk working its way across the posh guy's face.

"Very well. I am Daisuke Kobayashi. Engrave that name into your memory!" That name seems awfully familiar. Looks like this is a task for the tablet. As soon as his title pops up, the Ultimate Critic, I realise I know exactly who I'm dealing with here. Born from a line of geniuses, he's quite possibly the smartest of them all, but instead of going into the sciences, he decided to sit back and dismantle the works of his peers.

"I feel you've wasted enough of my precious time, annelids. Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall be leaving!" Daisuke doesn't wait around for much longer, pushing past me and taking his leave from the operating theatre. I spent hardly any time around him and already I can tell the guy's a dick.

"That man is a complete and utter prick," says the guy with the pens in his pocket, echoing my thoughts perfectly. "Ah, but we haven't been introduced, have we? I am Zygoth! May your spirit be forever clean!" Zygoth? The hell kind of name is that? I check my device to see if that's actually his real name, and unsurprisingly, it's not. His real name is Hatoyama Saburo, and he's the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist. No wonder everything he says sounds crazy.

"Says here your name's different," I say, pointing out the discrepancy.

"Don't allow the government and their technology to bewitch you! I am Zygoth, and I shall hear no more of this 'real name' nonsense!" Zygoth reaches into a pocket that isn't full of pens and his hand comes out in a pincer shape. With a flick of his wrist, he throws some sort of fine white powder at me that shows up extremely clearly on my black blazer.

"Oi, what was that for?" I ask, brushing the stuff off.

"Salt is an effective deterrent of evil," Zygoth declares. "You should keep it on you at all times." It's weird, he sounds like a politician or something, but the actual words coming out of his mouth are just utterly stupid. Maybe he really is a politician?

"But the Green Ram protects us all anyway!" protests the small voice of the girl with the massive green jacket. "Welcome, Shinji! I am Eiko Uno, leader of the Order of the Green Ram! Join us, and together… we'll all live nice and happily! Yay!" When she throws her arms up in the air, the ends of her sleeves wave about in the air of their own accord, giving the whole movement an unintentionally comic effect. My tablet pings, and this time, I literally get no new information other than official confirmation of her title being Ultimate Cult Leader. Gee, who'd have thought? It's not like she ever brings it up or anything…

"I'd be cautious if I were you, Shinji," Zygoth warns. "A terrible fate could befall you if you accept her offer!" Well, thanks for the tip, but I wasn't exactly intending to join in the first place. I just happened to walk in here looking for someone.

"Look, have either of you seen a girl round here? She's kind of crazy and doesn't wear shoes." Both of them appear deep in thought, and Eiko rubs her chin with the middle of her sleeve. That jacket is definitely way too big.

"No, I haven't, I'm afraid," Zygoth replies. "If I had, I would have given her my own shoes. Eschewing footwear is a cardinal sin!"

"Nope, me neither," says Eiko. With that established, I can leave these two nutters to their own devices and find my own mad girl. I turn back on myself, checking out the emergency ward first of all. Again, like the rest of the hospital thus far, and matching up with what Eizou told me earlier, this ward is totally empty. All of the beds are arranged in precise rows, but none of them are occupied. Everything is untouched: none of the noticeboards have so much as a smudge of ink on them, the curtains around the beds look like they're brand new, the bedside tables are all bare, there's not even so much as a molecule of dust anywhere. Of course, right over on the far side, that same surveillance camera and monitor combo have been installed. Is someone watching us?

It's obvious Hikari isn't on the ward, so I go back the way I came, again passing that locked door and then the operating theatre. This hallway's pretty much the same as the one I was in before, just full of random doctor's offices. I guess if nobody else is around, there's nothing stopping me having a look in them and searching for clues. I try the door of the closest one, apparently the office of a Dr. V. Rossi, but it refuses to open. Must be locked. I try the next one, belonging to a Dr. A. Hiru, and get the same result. Oh well, guess they don't want us snooping through their stuff after all.

I move over to the other side of the wall, and there's a door here that's actually wide open. Plus, there's absolutely no mistaking that voice as Hikari's.

"And I! Will always loooooooooooooooove yoooooooooooou!" Where did she even learn all these songs? And, more importantly, who told her she could sing? If Haruki ever heard any of this, he'd probably pop a blood vessel. Since I've now located my target, I enter the room and find her spinning around a very small space in an office chair, clutching a telephone receiver to her chest. This has reached a whole new level of weirdness. She opens her eyes and upon seeing me almost immediately launches herself off the chair towards me, dropping the receiver on the floor. I guess love doesn't last forever.

"Nice to see you too, Hikari," I say as she sweeps me up in a big hug. I'm just glad she's not found any explosives, if I'm honest, because as much as she seems to like me, I half-suspect she'd be equally willing to blow me up. Just as I'm starting to feel the air being squeezed out of my lungs, she lets go quite abruptly and my feet hit the floor. She's definitely stronger than she looks, that's for certain. The expression on her face is like nothing I've ever seen from her before, and her complexion has gone a ghostly white. What's got into her all of a sudden?

"Shinji… who's that behind you?"

**A.N.: Once again, thank you to all the lovely people following and reviewing, you're all awesome! Also apologies to the people whose names I got wrong in the last set of author's notes, that's all been fixed now. **

**Also a slight update regarding the schedule for chapters. Right now I'm between jobs and have quite a bit of time on my hands to write, but of course that's not going to be the case forever. I'm still taking on various bits of work experience and stuff, which of course takes up a lot of the time I'd be spending coming up with ideas, so things will most likely slow down soon. Nonetheless, I will endeavour to ensure that this story doesn't die a premature death (unlike the characters in it of course :P) and aim for an update at least once every two weeks. But don't worry, I'll try and ensure the final set of introductions is done some time this week. **


	4. Prologue: Introductions III

Prologue: Introductions III

I spin round, alarmed by Hikari's odd behaviour, and stood against the far wall behind me is a girl wearing a long black coat with a fur trim. The hood is pulled right up over her head, which makes it difficult to see her face, and her coffee-coloured hair hangs over the right side of her face, further obscures her features. Underneath the coat are a maroon tank top and a black skirt, which really was the only thing that gave her gender away.

"Oh, I see I've been discovered," she says, rather lacking in emotion. There's always got to be a dark, brooding and mysterious type in these situations, hasn't there?

"How long have you been following me?" I ask, perplexed as to how I could have been tailed around the hospital without noticing her once.

"You recall when you awoke in the waiting room, correct?" No way, she couldn't have been in there. That place was still and silent as the grave, apart from Hikari's singing. Where would you even hide in a waiting room?

"That's not possible," I tell her, still in disbelief. "I'd have heard you, or seen you, or… something."

"Well, I'm incredibly surreptitious, Shinji Yoshida, Ultimate Insomniac. That's right, I know exactly who you are."

"Fancy telling me who _you_ are?" I ask, slightly irked by the fact I've essentially been stalked around the hospital this whole time.

"Very well, as you wish. My name is Rin Hinamoto, and I am the Ultimate Librarian." Librarian, eh? No wonder she's so quiet. I fire up the tablet thing again to see if it'll shed some light on this enigmatic girl, but of course, I get nothing of use out of it. She's even still got the hood up and the hair over her face in the provided image. Did the designer of this thing make it deliberately obtuse or something? And how does it know who I'm interacting with anyway?

"Well, you obviously don't work at my local library or I'd have seen you before," I remark. You can never have too many books. Books are one of the best ways to pass time in the dead of night. As a medium, books have thrived since Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in the 1400s, and the fact we have an Ultimate Librarian even in an age where technology has prevailed on so many other fronts is testament to their greatness. If Rin ever decides to lighten up a bit, we'd have a _lot_ to discuss.

"It's only a small library," Rin says, and I fully expect her to follow up with 'you've probably never heard of it,' but she doesn't. A hipster library would certainly be something.

"All those books, they'd probably burn pretty well," Hikari says. Seems she's finally recovered. Is that good or bad? I really don't know. One thing I do know is I don't like being followed.

"Look, have you not got other people to be stalking?" I ask Rin. "Maybe try tailing that critic." If he spots her, she can tell him to go and see a proctologist.

"Very well," Rin says humbly, pulling the hood even further over her face before skulking off down the corridor. If my maths is correct, and it should be, she was the thirteenth student, so I still have three more to meet.

"Hikari, did you meet anyone else around here or was that phone too much of a distraction?" I ask my unlikely companion.

"Hmmm… Oh! There're some more rooms over there! They might have people!" Once again she grabs my hand and forcefully drags me along the corridor until we come to a stop. Hikari barges through the door, revealing a storage room, not for medical supplies as such, but just for general items such as food, alternate clothing and other essentials. I suppose they do need somewhere to store it all, but doesn't it all seem a bit idiosyncratic?

On the floor, sat propped against a shelf with some sort of handheld gaming system in her hands, is a girl I know I've seen many times before. The long dark brown hair, those yellow eyes, that set of white headphones and the distinctive grey and black hoodie matched with other black items of clothing are all such familiar features. It's none other than Nanima Shirogani.

She got really popular on Nico Nico Douga doing all sorts of gaming and music videos, and her weekly stream regularly pulls in hundreds of thousands of viewers from around the world, myself included. I first discovered her one dreadfully dull night when I just couldn't settle down, and her infectious enthusiasm and confidence on screen won me over. Right now, that's not really coming through though, as she continues to huddle in the corner playing her game.

"Yo, Nanima," I say. The headphones must be blocking out my voice as she doesn't react. I try a bit louder, and there's still no response. Hikari leans in close, hovering over Nanima's shoulder and watching the screen of her handheld. When that also fails to elicit a response, Hikari playfully removes Nanima's headphones, which seems to do the trick.

"Huh? Who are you guys? And why did you touch my stuff?" she asks. She seems a little bit distant. I guess her online persona is just that, a carefully-constructed personality designed to bring in a multitude of viewers to her channel and streams. Doesn't surprise me too much though, considering some of the wackier personas you see on Youtube and the like.

"I'm Shinji Yoshida, Ultimate Insomniac, and this delightful character is Hikari Himura, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician," I answer. "Don't mind her. She's harmless. At least, I hope she is…"

"Yeah, what he said!" Hikari says, dancing around Nanima in a sort of semicircle, the shelf not allowing any more movement than that. "Nice to meet ya!" Nanima pushes a button on her gaming device, which I assume will put it into sleep mode, and puts it away in her pocket before rising to her feet. She spends a bit of time composing herself before offering a full introduction in the style of her usual video opening.

"Hey hey, it's Nanima Shirogani, the Ultimate Internet Star here! Let's go!" Hikari cheers for some reason, and even though I don't particularly need it, I check my own electronic device for more information. Who would've guessed she likes video games and Tumblr, eh? Certainly not the millions of people who visit her channel for exactly that, I'm sure.

"You seem a bit… different in reality," I say. That doesn't sound great. Better backpedal a little. "Not in a bad way or anything, though. Just different from your videos. Umm…" Her eyes seem to light up even though I think that could easily be misconstrued as an insult of sorts.

"Oh, you're one of my fans? Thank you so much for the support! I do it all for you guys! Yay!" It seems like I've cheered her up slightly.

"Why do you spend so much time blowing up imaginary things when the real thing is just _so_ much more fun?" asks Hikari. She clearly doesn't understand that not everyone is as gifted at pyrotechnics as her, or as willing to take ridiculous risks.

"Because it's much safer," Nanima replies, handling the dumb question pretty well. "Plus, my viewers aren't interested in firework displays, they wanna see bullet hell and dungeon crawling action!" Again, the persona is shining through.

"Oooooh, I've never been in a dungeon before!" Hikari reveals giddily. "What's it like? Is it scary? Is it full of ghosts and men in porkpie hats with knives for fingers?" I will never understand what goes on in that girl's head.

"Pretty much," Nanima says. "Now, this has been nice and all, but can I please get back to my game? I just got to a really exciting part! Man, if only I was recording…" I suppose we should leave her to her own devices.

"Sure thing," I assure her, making a move towards the storeroom door.

"Thanks for dropping by, you two! I'm sure we'll have fun again soon!" She waves at me, and Hikari surprisingly gets the message and runs out of the storeroom while Nanima settles back down in her secluded spot by the shelf. Even though she's not exactly the same as she comes across on the internet, I can tell she's a sweet girl at heart, and I hope she can find it in herself to open up a bit more. Having to act infectiously enthusiastic for hours on end must be so exhausting. Not something I could do, that's for sure.

I can't risk losing Hikari again so I don't hang around long, and thankfully this time I don't have to go chasing her around the hospital. She's come to a stop a little further down, and I can just about see the outline of someone poking their head out of a door. I move closer, sensing we're on the verge of finding the last remaining students, and indeed there's a bit of a confrontation between her and a fierce, militaristic-looking guy. His brown hair is slicked back with what looks like an entire tub's worth of hair gel, but other than that he's your typical soldier type, in a tight black t-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots, with a little silver dagger on a chain around his neck.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't let you in to see our esteemed guest without frisking you first. It's a precautionary measure, you see." Hikari steps back as the militaristic gentleman approaches her with his hands outstretched, a natural reaction given the situation. With alarming reactions he's able to stop her retreat and begins to pat down various parts of her body. His expression remains stoic as he reaches all around her, attempting to find traces of any weapons or explosives on her person, giving off a sense of complete detachment from the actual person he's searching. Once satisfied that Hikari's no danger, he stops and straightens up; finally noticing me stood watching like some voyeuristic pervert.

"Your turn next," he says to me. I tell Hikari to move so I can be frisked and oblige his request, lifting up my arms as he runs his hands down my side. I don't particularly like this, but I don't have much choice. Very quickly, he finds the device I've been carrying with me and examines it very carefully before handing it back. His examination thankfully doesn't last much longer after that.

"You gonna bother introducing yourself, man?" I ask.

"Of course. You're a fellow student, after all, so it'd be rude not to! I just wanted to ensure safety protocol was followed." Boy, this guy's a real stickler for the rules. I bet he was a prefect before he ended up here. "Ryusuke Takeyama, the Ultimate Bodyguard, at your service, sir!" He follows up this introduction with a lively salute. I'm able to look him up on the device since he was kind enough to give it back, and his life seems to revolve around keeping himself in shape, protecting people and very little else. Suppose that's fitting for an Ultimate Bodyguard.

"Hey, can we go in yet?" Hikari asks impatiently. The room Ryusuke is guarding appears to be some sort of consultation room, bigger than those offices from earlier and a lot more bare, with just a counter, a hospital bed with a metal tray full of tools next to it and an occupied wheelchair in it. Is this linked to why we're all here?

"I see no reason why not," says Ryusuke, and Hikari whoops loudly, punching the air. He barely has time to move out of the way before she charges in through the open door.

"Ooooh, shiny things!" she exclaims, totally ignoring the wheelchair-bound person and making a beeline for the tray of basic surgical instruments.

"Yes, she _is_ always like that," I say to Ryusuke. He simply stands and stares at me, apparently waiting for me to enter the consultation room. I do so without another moment's hesitation, primarily to stop Hikari messing with things she shouldn't be and secondarily to greet this 'esteemed guest.' Thankfully when I actually get close to the bed, I see that Hikari only has access to basic tools like otoscopes and stethoscopes, with not a scalpel or deadly explosive chemical in sight. Satisfied that she's not going to do any harm to herself or others, I can finally greet the person in the wheelchair, who's been watching us since we entered.

"What do you want?" he asks, in a very stilted and monotone way. He dresses very simply, with a white shirt, blue undershirt, blue jeans and trainers that look brand new, with his only accessory barring the chair being the black watch on his wrist. His blond hair and pale complexion combined make him look anaemic and almost lifeless.

"To know who you are, of course," I say, avoiding adding 'you miserable git' to the end of my statement. "Name's Shinji Yoshida. I'm the Ultimate Insomniac. The big guy out there tells me you're someone important."

"Oh, you don't know? Then again, I guess nobody does now," the defeated-looking disabled student says with a sigh. "I'm Haru Nishishoka. Not that that matters …" Wait, _the_ Haru Nishishoka? Holy shit, I knew there'd been an incident but I never knew it was quite this bad. No wonder he's depressed. For the last time, I consult the device and discover Haru Nishishoka got in as the Ultimate Hero. No surprise given the guy was essentially a living legend in his prime.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see you here," is all I can muster. There are so many thoughts running through my head right now. Where has he been all this time? How did Hope's Peak Academy find him? How on Earth do you even cope with going from being idolised by everyone in Japan to suddenly becoming a total outcast, all because of one slip-up?

"I shouldn't be here," Haru laments. "And I hate my title. It just reminds me of everything I'm no longer capable of. Do you know how that feels, to lose _everything_ you had, to feel completely unwanted by society, to have no role to play in anything anymore, all because you tried to be a good person? In the end, everything I accomplished is a waste of time, and every minute I spend around you people just reminds me of that even further." At the absolute worst possible time, Hikari starts singing, and I hope to Marduk that Haru has no understanding of English.

"_I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoooooooa! I'm walkin' on sunshine…!" _If anyone else finds out about this, she is gonna be in some deep, deep shit for this later. Worse still, not only does she not stop immediately, she actually comes over with a stethoscope in her ears and starts listening to the wheels of Haru's chair.

"Haru, I'd like you to meet Hikari Himura, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician." She's studying the wheels quite intently. Maybe she thinks they're dead since they don't have a heartbeat.

"Oh," Haru says quietly, although it's more like an exhalation than an utterance.

"These wheels are rusty," Hikari observes. "Mr. Rusty Wheels, you need to sort that out!"

"Hikari, he kind of can't," I tell her gently. "Maybe Feminism could. Did you ever find her, by the way?"

"Nope, but Rusty Wheels is the only other person I haven't talked to yet because the big scary guy wouldn't let me in before." I really hope that name doesn't stick.

"Don't you recognise him? It's Haru Nishishoka. You know…"

"Please don't bring that up," Haru interrupts. Makes sense he'd be uncomfortable with people talking about his past because it'll just remind him of what he used to be capable of.

"This guy can't be Haru Nishishoka!" Hikari declares. "Haru Nishishoka can walk! And he doesn't have those bags under his eyes like you do! And he'd never be in a hospital because he's invincible!"

"Yeah, I used to think that too," Haru says solemnly. "Turns out, that just ain't the truth." Well, this got depressing rather quickly. A fitting final introduction for a fallen hero. Hikari runs back to the tray while I look about the room, no longer knowing what to say or do with myself. I spy another one of those yellow screens over by the door, but this one's different. The others had a completely blank display, but this one's full of static. All of a sudden, from out of the silence rings a voice, the likes of which I've never heard before.

"Ahem, ahem! Testing, testing, one two three! Am I coming through? Can everyone hear me?" There seems to be some kind of shape forming in the grey static, but it's so fuzzy I can't really make anything out. That voice is giving me the creeps, too. It sounds like some crap from a children's TV show or something.

"Well, let's begin, then! All of you students have an urgent appointment immediately in the reception area! I repeat, all Hope's Peak Academy Students have an urgent appointment immediately in the reception area! Chop, chop, don't be late! I'll be waiting!" I don't trust this. I've just been left with even more questions than before. Whoever made that announcement certainly knows more about the current situation than we do, at least, but even so, something about that message was just unsettling.

"You guys go on ahead," Haru says. "I don't particularly feel like going." I feel a shadow being cast over me, and I turn to see Ryusuke stood right behind me.

"But the message was very clear, Haru, sir! All students must attend!" Ryusuke isn't going to let this drop, is he? I leave him to convince the fallen hero to go to his mandatory appointment, just in time to see Hikari racing down the corridor. At this point, all I can do is follow her lead, go to the reception and finally get some answers as to why sixteen Hope's Peak Academy students have been trapped inside a hospital.

**A/N: Thanks once again to all you lovely people for your reviews. It really is nice to know my story's going down well with its audience. **

**Now, time for an update on my upcoming schedule. Tomorrow I'm off into the heart of Manchester to play some Smash Bros, then for the next two weeks I'm off on a course in retail and finances, so the next chapter might be a while. Certainly won't be keeping up the current run of two a week. Regardless, I hope you all stick with it and I'll make sure the next chapter is extra-despairing!**


	5. Prologue: A Game of Despair

**Prologue: A Game of Despair**

Before long I arrive in the reception area, where many of the other students have already gathered for their 'urgent appointment' with the ambiguous doctor. It's about what you'd expect a reception area to be like, really. There are seats around the outer edges, including right near the entrance, which much like the emergency room door, had been securely shut with a massive padlock and chain. Here, there's an extra layer of security in the form of a pair of huge machineguns hanging from the ceiling above the door. Somehow, I don't think those were there when this place was built. Maybe we really _are_ in the midst of a pandemic.

"Gee, I sure don't like the look o' those guns," Zange comments, looking alarmed as she spots the powerful ceiling-mounted turrets. To the right of the reception desk is one of those simple general stores which stocks things like newspapers, flowers and sweets, and I'm completely unsurprised to see Hikari raiding the fridges. I step in and have a look around, and notice nothing too peculiar until I reach the counter. Beside the till is a cheap gashapon machine, but it's not got any sort of recognisable branding on it or anything. The gifts that I can see all look ridiculously gaudy. Can't see myself ever using that…

AS I exit the shop, I notice the reception area has become more crowded than before. Apparently poking around in the shop took up enough time for a very sizeable amount of the students to arrive, including Ryusuke and Haru, the latter of whom is adamant that he could have easily wheeled himself along.

"Save your pity for someone else," he says flatly. No change there, then.

"I would never act out of pity!" Ryusuke insists. "It's an honour to be able to help someone as distinguished as yourself, Haru! You're a great inspiration to me, you know." Even without his legs? Ryusuke, you better not go and do anything stupid now. It's bad enough having one whinging git to wheel around.

"I'll write a song in your honour," Haruki says. "And I don't even usually write songs!"

"I could do backup for you if you wanted!" Nanima adds. As moving as this outpouring of love for Haru is, there are far more important matters to address here. We need to know what the hell this appointment is all about, for starters. I do a quick headcount to make sure everyone is here, and after going over it twice after missing Rin the first time, I count fourteen of us. Who's missing?

That question is soon answered when Dulce and Nayumi come stumbling in through the left entrance, the latter propped up on the former's shoulders having fallen asleep mid-transit.

"Sorry to keep everybody waiting!" Dulce says, still keeping a brave face in spite of her lateness.

"Ah, yes! Being fashionably late is the best way to make an entrance!" Eizou announces. Speaking of fashionably late, that doctor should be here any minute now. There's a microphone set up on the front desk so I take it they'll greet us from there, and everyone else seems to be on the same wavelength, crowding round the desk as though it were a religious idol. Yeah, great logic guys, block the way of whoever's coming...

"Are we all here? Then let's begin!" That voice rings out once more, and it sounds like it's actually in the room with us as opposed to coming through the monitor speakers again. The chair behind the desk begins to spin rapidly, and as its momentum drops and the speed of its rotations slow, I can make out the shape of something that looks very out of place in this hospital. The only way I can describe it is like an infernal teddy bear from the very deepest depths of Irkalla, a bear of black and white, split evenly by a vertical line down the middle, except for its stomach, which is solid white with a very large protruding navel. The white side of its face looks innocuous enough, but the black half has a demonic grin and a gnarly red eye that glows with a faint light.

"The hell is that thing?" screams Akira.

"It's the devil itself, come to defile this earth!" warns Eiko, but nobody takes much notice of her.

"It just looks like a teddy bear," Nayumi says sleepily, having seemingly now woken up. She _would_ have teddy bears on her mind.

"Nonsense! This is clearly some sort of automaton!" Daisuke says, admonishing everyone who even entertains the idea of it being anything else.

"I'm none of those things!" the bear (at least, I'm assuming it's the bear) says angrily, slamming its paws down on the desk. "I am Monokuma, and I am your headmaster!"

"Headmaster?" I ask.

"He's a mere puppet of the education committee, threatening to close all our schools and indoctrinate the children of the world with lies and propaganda!" Zygoth declares.

"But you're a bear," Eizou says.

"Awww, look at the cute, cuddly teddy bear!" Hikari squeals. "It talks and everything!"

"I already told you I'm _not _a teddy bear! Try cuddling me and you'll get an awful, nasty surprise! Puhuhu!" The bear, or Monokuma, or whatever the hell he insists on being called, stands up on the chair and grabs the mic. "Now then, students, listen up!"

"Hold on one second," Alicia says. I would hope she doesn't use this opportunity to start ranting about men again. "Where's our doctor? And why is there a headmaster in a hospital anyway?"

"You're all students of Hope's Peak Academy, correct?" Monokuma asks, the mic screeching horribly with feedback.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess," Akira says. "So what the hell does that make you? You're not telling me that a goddamn bear runs Hope's Peak Academy?"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm telling you all!" Monokuma replies. "For the foreseeable future, you're all under my custody here in Cresthaven Hospital!" Cresthaven? That's a familiar enough name. I swear Mum and Dad talked about sending me here once, although it never happened.

"That doesn't fully answer my question," says Alicia.

"Yeah, you ain't a doctor, are ya?" Dulce asks, twirling her cartography pencil around in the ends of her hair.

"I shall refute any and all claims this ursine fiend makes until irrefutable evidence is presented!" Daisuke insists angrily.

"Oh, you wanna see my qualifications, smart guy? Come by my office sometime and I'll be more than happy to show you! Puhuhu! Anyway, where were we before all your idiotic questions? Hmmmmmmm…" Monokuma puts a paw to his chin to contemplate. Can this whole foul charade just end already? Just tell us _why_ we're in here!

"The demon is thinking of ways to end us all!" Eiko shrieks, breaking the silence.

"Aha! _That_ was it!" Monokuma announces, enthusiastically raising a paw in the air. "Yes, of course! You're all here for the foreseeable future… with no way to access the outside world!" What? Am I getting this right? No access to the outside world whatsoever?

"None at all?" Eizou asks.

"How am I supposed to let all my fans know I'm OK? Or, even worse, how am I going to upload anything?" Nanima's sure got her priorities straight. I mean, it's not like we're trapped or anything…

"He's trying to poison our minds by cutting off our access to other forms of media!" Zygoth declares.

"But my family…" Alicia's not so tough now, on the verge of tears at the prospect of all contact being cut off.

"That's the way it has to be!" Monokuma answers. "You see, Hope's Peak Academy produces the most excellent of students in the entire world! Influences from the outside can prove detrimental to the hope they carry within them, so I've locked you all in here to protect you all from the horrors of the outside world!"

"But why are we in a hospital?" Rin asks. "Surely there's no safer place than the Academy itself. Why go out of your way to evacuate an entire building for the sake of sixteen students?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? Puhuhuhu! Think back to what happened to you all…" Of course! We all collapsed at the entrance, and so Monokuma must have brought us all here. Is that really what happened, though? Was it really _him_ who brought us here?

"Let us go already!" Zange yells.

"Yeah, this is just stupid, man!" Akira shouts. "Is the world really so dangerous you can't let us all out there?"

"Look at you all, pining for the fjords. The grass is always greener on the other side! If you guys were to step foot out there, you'd probably regret it!" Monokuma sweeps a paw through the air in some sort of weird gesture, and everyone else seems to interpret that as a plea for silence. "But, of course, on the off-chance you guys _really_ want to escape, I've put a special rule in place to allow that. I like to call it… the graduation rule! Ta-daaaaaaaaa!" Graduation rule? This bear's completely off his rocker.

"Stop being so damn vague, bear!" Eizou yells. "Just tell us how we get out!"

"Alright, already, Grumpy Gus! The only way to graduate from Cresthaven Hospital..." Monokuma draws out the sentence for as long as possible, raising the levels of tension to almost unheard of levels. Even Nayumi's loud yawn doesn't break it. "…Is to kill another student without being discovered!" Kill another student? What the fuck? The only way we're allowed out of here is by committing murder?

"K-k-kill?" Zange stutters.

"No! That's impossible!" Nanima cries. "I won't do it! I won't listen to your lies, Monokuma! We can get out of here some other way, right?"

"The devil wants a sacrifice!" wails Eiko. Many of my fellow students are in a panic, and with good reason. Akira storms off, throwing a chair out of his way as he tries to leave the room. The only ones in the room who seem calm are Nayumi, who's asleep again, Rin, who's pulled the hood even tighter over her face, Daisuke, who's immovable as a rock, and Hikari, who seems to be loving it.

"Killing! Killing! What fun!" she squeals with delight, piercing through the white noise of the other students' protests. I'm not quite sure she actually understands all the implications of this graduation rule. I just hope she's not got it in her to actually commit the act.

"See? This girl gets it! The rest of you need to loosen up and embrace the situation you're in! Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma erupts into uproarious laughter before reeling off a long list of all the methods we can use, and none of them sound particularly 'fun' to me.

"I didn't even get started on all the wonderful hospital equipment you could use!" he adds with glee. How could anyone feel such joy from making a collection of talented students butcher each other? Whoever's behind the bear is a total creep.

"This isn't happening!" Alicia wails. Zygoth begins loudly chanting some sort of incantation and drawing a variety of shapes all over the wall with a piece of red chalk next to her. That'll sure keep the demons at bay.

"Well, hate to break it to ya, sweetie, but it totally is! Such delicious despair! Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma leaps off the chair and onto the desk, just as Akira comes running over, gripping a chair by the back. He swings the chair right at Monokuma, flinging him right up against the far wall.

"Take that, you motherfucker!" Akira yells triumphantly, throwing the chair at the fallen bear. From that corner, a loud beeping sound emanates.

"Everyone, get back!" Rin orders. "That thing's about to blow, and it'll send the chair flying!"

"Push up against this wall!" Zygoth says. "Its aura will protect us from evil!" I've been fairly passive so far, but like hell am I just gonna stand around waiting to get taken out by an explosion. I run for cover beneath the other chairs while everyone else pins themselves up against the wall, with the exceptions of Daisuke and Hikari, who stay where they were. Sure enough, there's a spectacular explosion that completely destroys the chair and leaves scorch marks all over the wall and carpet, and there's no sign of Monokuma. That was _too_ easy.

"Attention! Akira Ueda has violated the school rules! No attacking the headmaster!" Spoke too soon.

"The devil has returned!" cries Eiko as another Monokuma takes his place at the front desk.

"My, my, Akira, how naughty! Puhuhuhu! Normally, I'd have you killed right away, but I really don't wanna whittle it down before things really start getting exciting! Take that as a warning, young man. Next time you'll get more than just a swat on the butt!" Is there a doctor in the house? Because this guy needs one. And a straitjacket too.

"You say there are school rules in place," Rin observes. "Do tell us what these may be."

"Meh, I don't care," Haru says, the first thing I've heard him say since this whole thing began.

"Nonsense, Haru!" Ryusuke says sternly. "Every institution needs rules in order to discourage total chaos!"

"Right you are, tough guy!" Monokuma says, pointing a paw at Ryusuke. "Now, I'm sure you all noticed those devices you've got, right? Those, my dear students, are my super-duper e-Handbooks!" So, that's what these things are? I pull mine out and boot it up, and instead of showing student's profiles, it loads into a menu with several different options, one of which is 'Regulations'. "My school regulations are provided on them for your delectation! Read them in your own time and become intimately familiar with them!"

"I'd rather not," I say. Hikari fumbles her e-Handbook and drops it on the floor with a clatter. Daisuke ruthlessly examines the bottom of his, probably so he can have an excuse to say the make is shoddy or something.

"Remember, kids, your e-Handbook is vitally important for your new school life, so don't lose it! There are certain facilities you can't enter without one, and each one contains lots of valuable information! I've also made them totally indestructible. They can withstand pressure up to ten tons, and even if you dropped one off the roof, it wouldn't break! The e-Handbook is also completely waterproof, so submerging it won't cause any problems! Aren't they just wonderful inventions?" One thing I wasn't expecting was a bear trying to sell me on the latest tablet computer. I'm not sure if that or the whole killing thing is weirder.

"Screw that, just let us go outside already!" Akira yells.

"Papa's waitin' for me out there," Zange says softly to herself. Nayumi yawns loudly, and Daisuke follows suit. Proof that yawns are contagious right there.

"All of you children need to learn something. No matter how much you beg, no matter how much you wail 'let me out, let me out!' none of you are going anywhere until someone gets killed! That's the truth of it, puhuhuhu! Well, class, I think we've covered everything for today. From this point forward, your new school life begins in Cresthaven Hospital! Have fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!" Monokuma drops off the desk and seemingly descends under the floor, as several students run up to the desk at once to look over and see nothing but the empty chair. In some ways, I think that was more surreal than the hallucinations I've had. The worst part is that this is totally real. There's no doubting that.

"Where'd that _cabrón _go? I'll tear him apart!" Dulce announces. I see Nanima going for the entrance and rush to stop her, not wishing to see those machineguns in action.

"Getting yourself killed is _not_ going to help!" I tell her.

"I don't care! We're all gonna die anyway!" she says.

"Ryusuke!" I call. He leaves Haru behind, since he's able to wheel himself around without the help, and locks both of Nanima's arms behind her back while dragging her away from the door.

"Doom is upon us all!" Eiko screams evangelically.

"Everyone just **calm down!**" Haruki yells, almost transitioning into a death metal growl.

"How can we do that when we're all stuck in here with that bear watching us?" asks Eizou.

"Listen to the man," Zygoth urges. "We must all collaborate in order to resolve this situation! There's no use in us all squabbling amongst ourselves in this predicament! We must all work together to find an escape route! Even the bunkers the government have built in preparation for the oncoming nuclear apocalypse have their security flaws! If everyone is willing to team up and look for a way out, we may have a chance of survival!"

"Your reasoning is flawed," Daisuke says. "Your comprehension of the situation fails to take into account the very real prospect of one of us being actively willing to participate in Monokuma's killing game and thus concentrate on their own graduation instead. You place _far_ too much trust in the lowborn masses, Saburo."

"Why, you fiend!" Zygoth bellows like a bull elephant.

"How dare you suggest a woman could be capable of killing?" Alicia screeches.

"I'm simply being realistic," Daisuke says. "Sixteen students with little to no previous contact between them find themselves trapped inside an institution far from home with all access to the outside world cut off, with the carrot of graduation dangled before them in exchange for the life of a fellow student. I assure you, it's not beyond the realms of possibility for one of us to be contemplating murder right this moment." I notice he's looking straight at Hikari as he says this, and she's too busy humming a tune to notice him. Suddenly things just got a whole lot more intense. This guy has an IQ that's off the charts and is extremely influential in his field of work. He might just be onto something here. But who could it be? Which of us would even be capable of such thoughts?

I look around at all the other students. Everyone is silent now, all giving one another short glances and avoiding making eye contact. Well, except Hikari, who's off in her own little world. This is the true horror of Monokuma's machinations. He's planted the seeds of distrust within us, and he'll be hoping they blossom into despair…

**Prologue: A Game of Despair**

**END**

**Remaining Students: 16**

**A.N.: There you have it folks, the killing game is officially underway! Who'll be first to go? Who's making it to the end? And more importantly, who's the mastermind behind it all? All this and more will be revealed... eventually.**

**Kind of continuing on from the last set of author's notes, everything's a bit out of kilter at the moment. That course I mentioned? Was never meant to be on it to begin with. Ah well, gives me more of a chance to write stuff, so that's good I suppose. Does make for a lot of uncertainty regarding just about every facet of my life, though...**

**For those of you wondering how I did in the Smash Bros tournament, I got to the semi-finals where I got destroyed by a pro Falco player. (And funnily enough, my first round opponent was none other than IfTimeWasStill, Hikari's creator!) **

**Next chapter will probably be out sometime this week, so keep an eye out. **


	6. Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark

Chapter 6

Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark…

We stand in silence, all looking around waiting for someone to make the first move. Much to my surprise, it's Nayumi who takes decisive action, all traces of tiredness gone from her movements.

"Everyone, we need to stick together," she says with determination. "Even _if_ someone among us might be planning to kill, we won't get anywhere unless we all stick together."

"Nobody's going to be killed on my watch," Ryusuke declares proudly.

"So can we kill when you're _not_ watching?" asks Hikari, which just elicits a groan from everyone but Ryusuke, who seems totally oblivious to the humour. At least, I'm assuming that was a joke. With Hikari it's near enough impossible to tell.

"Nobody's killing anyone, right?" Nanima asks. She seems extremely concerned by the whole concept. Guess what they say about video games making people violent isn't true.

"I'll back you up, Ryusuke!" Eizou proclaims. Those two muscled monstrosities are enough to put _anyone_ off from attempting a kill. The big concern is, of course, what we'd do if one of them was planning to turn against us. I suppose we could hope Haru miraculously regains the use of his legs and fights them off. Stranger things have happened.

"That's all very well, but we need someone who can keep things organised," Alicia says.

"The Green Ram will protect us all from the devil of light and darkness!" Eiko chants, waving her sleeves about. Without a decent leader in place, we're just sixteen students with incredibly specific talents. What we need is someone charismatic, someone who's empathetic, someone who can captivate an audience. And, of course, someone who can get between Hikari and any dangerous objects.

"How about Haruki?" I suggest. "He strikes me as someone who'd be a pretty good leader."

"Does it have to be a man?" Alicia asks. "Women are just as capable at leading, dude!" Dude? Wouldn't have thought Alicia would be the type to use such a masculine noun.

"Well, if you can suggest a girl who you think would be a capable leader, then sure," I reply. Game on, Alicia. She starts and stops a sentence several times, unsure how to retort.

"If we're going to procrastinate, then I'm completely unwilling to collaborate with you neanderthals," Daisuke says, yawning loudly. Guess we know who _isn't _in the running for leadership.

"Doesn't really matter to me who's in charge," Haru says. "Whoever takes up the position, you're just painting a big red target on your chest. Trying to be the big damn hero in this place will only bring you to your end quicker." Oh, isn't that cheerful? We definitely need some degree of organisation if we're to defeat or outwit Monokuma, though.

"We can't just have a leader appointed on the word of one man," Alicia eventually says. "All of us should be allowed to have our say in the matter."

"Indeed, this is true! In order for this to be fair, we must deal with this democratically!" Zygoth declares. Honestly, if he wasn't so weird, he'd probably have a fair shot at being leader. I hear a cry of "Praise Helix!" and can only assume that's Hikari. Nobody else would come out with something like that.

"A vote sounds like it could be a good compromise," says Haruki. "I'd be happy to take up leadership, but equally, if someone else reckons they've got what it takes and other people agree, I'd be cool with that."

"A vote?" Dulce asks. "But we ain't got all the stuff we'd need!"

"Y'all need to give us more time to think it over," Zange says, running her fingers through her hair. "All this is kinda a lot to take in, y'know?"

"Yeah, I just took a swing at a bear, for crying out loud!" Akira shouts, probably a bit louder and more forcefully than he meant. "Man, I haven't swung at an animal since the time that goose got in the way on the 18th hole of the JGT…"

"Alright then, how about we take some time out and meet at the cafeteria later?" I suggest. Many of the other students agree to part ways and reconvene in a couple of hours, which leaves me time to go and check out the dorms. I pass through the waiting room without incident, although I note that between it and the reception, there's a stairwell shut off with an iron gate. Monokuma obviously wants to keep us on the ground floor for now. My room, once I reach it, turns out to be one of the dorms bordering the corridor to the right side of the hospital, with Hikari's to my left, Nanima's to the right of the corridor and Haru's dorm facing mine. I reach to open my door, and nothing happens. The knob isn't turning.

"Puhuhuhu! Looks like you're locked out of your own room!" From out of nowhere, Monokuma appears before me. "You didn't think I'd just let everyone move freely through the dorms as they pleased, did you?"

"I thought maybe I'd be allowed to get into mine at least," I reply.

"Oops, guess I forgot about your key! Well then, lemme just unlock it for you! Super-Ultra-Mega Unlocking Spell! Kazaaaaaaam!" Monokuma gesticulates at the door and I hear a click. I'm now able to freely turn the knob and enter the room.

"How did you…"

"Ah-ah-aaaaaah! Trade secret!" Monokuma says cryptically, wagging a paw at me. "By the way, have you read my school regulations yet? They're BEAR-y important!" Did he _really_ just say that?

"I haven't," I admit, hoping not to be admonished for such an offence.

"Well, you'll have all the time you need to do so," Monokuma reminds me. "Nobody's going anywhere 'til the bodies start piling up! Puhuhu!" With that, Monokuma's gone as quickly as he arrived and I heave the door open, shrugging my shoulders. The room I'm greeted with is what you'd expect from a hospital room, all white and pristine surfaces with a fluorescent glow from the ceiling like the cafeteria, apart from a green chair off in the corner which, for some reason, I can only describe as looking incredibly sullen. The ever-present camera and monitor reside in the far corner near where the window would usually be. Even in our own rooms, we don't get any privacy.

There's a table with drawers in it opposite my bed, and when I open them up I find a load of laundry. Oddly enough, in with all the bedsheets are several sets of clothes identical to my uniform. There's even another pair of shoes in the bottom drawer. Now things are getting slightly creepy. Where exactly did Monokuma get these from? I'd certainly hope not my wardrobe at home; even _I_ don't like to look in there.

Next to this is the door to the en-suite bathroom, which I'm relieved to find is an option because communal shitting _really_ isn't my thing. There really isn't a lot going on in this bathroom, but it has all the basic stuff alongside a dispenser of antibacterial soap to stop the spread of infectious diseases. There doesn't appear to be any way to lock it that I can see, but when you can just lock the room itself, do you really need that extra layer of security? Once I've established that all the water works properly and that the razor is an incredibly cheap piece of shit that even a homeless man would refuse, I leave the bathroom and get to work checking out one thing I'll never need.

The bed is your typical hospital bed, complete with the wheels and that mechanism that lets you alter the angle of it. There is, however, no button that lets you call for assistance, although since the only assistance likely to arrive in this place is a sadistic teddy bear, that's probably for the best. It's a bit soft for my liking, but it's not like I'm gonna use it all that much. Sitting on the bed, I start sorting through the drawers in case they hold anything of interest. In the top drawer, I find a bronze coin with Monokuma's face on one side leering back at me, and in the bottom drawer is a notebook and a set of pens. I test out a couple of the pens but they all seem to have run dry. Thanks for that, Monokuma.

On top of the drawers, deep inside the otherwise-empty fruit bowl, is a key with a keyring with my name inscribed on it. That bastard must've known what he was doing! I take the key and stash it in my blazer's breast pocket, tossing the coin into the bowl where it makes a rather satisfying clink. There's a bright yellow lamp on this set of bedside drawers, but the lightbulb is weak and doesn't provide an awful lot of light. Not much use for late-night reading then, is it? Speaking of, how the hell am I supposed to keep myself occupied in this place? I suppose there's one thing I could do right now. I reach into my trouser pocket and pull out the e-Handbook to load up those regulations Monokuma was talking about.

'Rule one: Days are separated into daytime and night time. Night time will last from 10pm to 7am, and during this time, certain facilities will be restricted, so exercise caution.' Oh boy, a curfew, just what I needed. 'Rule two: You are free to explore the hospital at your leisure, although leaving the premises is expressly forbidden!' That's not even a proper rule, that's just telling us what we already know. Anyway, let's keep going. 'Rule three: Violence against the headmaster is totally prohibited, as is the destruction of hospital property, including the surveillance cameras.' Akira kind of found that one out the hard way…

"What'cha up to, Shinji?" I jump, not expecting anyone else to be in here with me, but of course Hikari found a way in.

"Don't do that!" I scream in shock. At least she didn't jump on me or something; that would've made things ten times worse.

"That doesn't answer my question," Hikari says. I wave the e-Handbook at her and she flings herself onto my bed, making it creak and bounce alarmingly. The brakes must be on because otherwise the momentum would have sent it colliding into the drawers.

"I'm reading the rules. They're not very interesting." I swipe the screen to bring up the next rule, which, of course, deals with the dreaded graduation. 'Rule four: When a body is discovered, the class trial will begin to discover the blackened!' The blackened? We're going all fancy with the terminology now, are we? Just call a spade a spade, Monokuma. Furthermore, what's this 'class trial' deal he's on about?

"Are they all about murrrrrrrders?" Hikari enquires, leaning in closer to get a better look at the screen.

"Some of them are, yes," I reply, quickly flipping to the next one. 'Rule five: If the blackened is found, they alone will be punished for their crime. However, if the blackened remains unexposed, everyone besides the blackened will be punished instead, and the blackened alone will graduate!' So if we don't find out who it is, we're all dead. No pressure, then…

"Ooooooh, this sounds fun!" Hikari announces.

"If people's lives weren't at stake, maybe," I say, much more aware than she is of the very real consequences of an incorrect guess. Hell, I'm not even convinced Monokuma will keep his word; he might just decide to kill us all regardless of whether we're right or not. I certainly won't be gambling on the false hope offered by graduation. The sixth rule is an odd one: 'The Body Discovery Announcement will ring out when three or more people discover a body for the first time.' Is that counting the killer? Does that mean they all have to find it at the same time? The seventh rule is even more ambiguous. 'More rules may be added at the headmaster's discretion.' Oh wonderful. Literally anything could happen at any moment.

"Hey Shinji," Hikari begins. "Have you ever seen a fire right up close? Have you ever felt the intense heat on your skin, making you drip with sweat, reminding you that fire is truly the most powerful thing on the planet?" What's with this sudden deluge of questions? I kind of haven't experienced any of these, and I don't really care to either.

"Is this really the best time for that?" I ask.

"All my life, for as long as I can remember, I've been lighting fires," Hikari informs me. "At first people were afraid; they were petrified. But then Dad started teaching me how to handle fire properly and not end up burning the neighbour's back yard up and well, things just went from there!" Teaching your kid how to burn stuff seems a tad irresponsible if you ask me.

"But it's still dangerous being around all that stuff," I remark.

"It sure is! Which is why you should always keep a good distance between yourself and your ignition source! Burning things is super-fun though! Once we get out of here, you're gonna have to come to one of our camp-outs!" Camp-outs? Like, out in the wilderness where all the wild things are?

"The whole great outdoors thing really isn't what I'm into," I tell Hikari. There is absolutely no guarantee of my safety if I end up in the middle of nowhere with her and Nergal-knows who else.

"I bet you'd love it! Everyone sitting round the campfire singing songs, telling stories, maybe even throwing a firecracker or two in the fire if people start dropping off. Not that you'd have to worry about that last one, of course! I bet my folks'd love having you around!" Is she seriously suggesting I meet her family once we escape this place? Is that not a bit sudden? Also, I can't help but think any boy she ever takes home would meet a horrible sticky end before the evening was over. Hell, they'd probably bite the dust during the first date, accidentally or otherwise.

"You think so?"

"Maybe. Depends if you can play the ukulele or not." The ukulele? I've done a bit of experimentation with piano music but never attempted a string instrument. It's not in my blood, and besides, I wouldn't be able to use my hours of insomnia to practice because other people have to sleep.

"Well, I've never really tried," I reply truthfully.

"How about the shamisen? Or the accordion? Or the theremin?" How would that last one even _work_ on a camping trip? I'm forced to hold up my hands and admit I completely lack any sort of instrument-playing talent.

"Can you play any of those things?" I counter.

"Nope, but I can play the fiddle, and the lyre, and the bagpipes, and the recorder, and the xylophone, and the voxophone…" Well then, what do they need my instrument-playing prowess for? The Himura family clearly have a musical maestro right here.

"I thought you had some kind of point to make earlier," I interrupt. I'll never know if her knowledge of percussion goes beyond the bongos, but I think I can live without that particular kernel. "Wasn't it something to do with safety?"

"I had a point?" Hikari seems even more confused than I am right now. "I guess… uh… don't forget which hand's holding a sparkler and which is holding a lollipop! Sparks don't taste nice at all!" Wow. Better contact the Nobel Prize committee, we've got a real winner here.

"Have you thought at all about who should be leader?" I ask, exhausting all other options. They say don't talk about politics with someone you don't know well, but in this case I think it's important to make Hikari realise that we need leadership to get us out of here.

"Not really," she says, somewhat inevitably. "I liked the crazy feather-haired guy's speech, though. That sounded _so _cool!" Of course she'd be totally taken in by that nutcase Zygoth. I should've seen that coming a light-year away. "Why can't he just be the leader? Why do we have to decide?"

"Because apparently just installing a leader like that isn't good enough," I say dryly. "Someone decided equality was the best way to go instead of prioritising our survival. Seriously, Haruki's the man we need in charge around here. Why can't Alicia see that?"

"Because she's just cuckoo!" Hikari says, her gangly arms rotating in that motion that no actual cuckoo has ever performed. Even cuckoo clocks don't do that. This lasts about five seconds before Hikari notices the tacky lime green chair.

"No, don't!" I yell, but it's too late. She's already in love.

"This is _my_ chair now!" she declares, sitting herself down and reclining in it as far back as she can go without tipping it over.

"You can take it if you want, I'm not gonna use it," I let her know, but she's having none of it.

"No way! The chair lives here! You can't just forcibly evict him from his home like that!"

"I'd only be moving it next door," I try telling her, but Hikari's comfy now and there's not a lot I can do.

"I've got an idea!" she announces suddenly. "You go and see if anyone else can play the ukulele while I guard the chair!" Guess we have a deal.

"Alright, just don't mess up my stuff," I say, getting up off the bed and making my move toward the door.

"You don't _have_ any stuff!" Hikari replies with surprising lucidity. That's definitely a fair point, this place is seriously bare. Maybe while I'm out, I can find myself some stuff to decorate the room with. First, though, I need to gauge the mood and see how people are coping. For the next couple of hours, it's free time.

**A.N.: Here we are, folks! Free Time begins! I already have plans for the first few instalments of Free Time, but after that, I might take your suggestions into consideration, so let me know who you'd like to see in the spotlight in future! :D**


	7. Chapter 1: Free Time I

Chapter 1: Free Time I

Killing a couple of hours is usually easy, but when you've got none of your usual resources available, it can be a struggle. Guess all I can do right now is force myself to be social and get to know some of the students I've not really had chance to speak to properly yet. Now, where might people be hanging out? The cafeteria seems a pretty logical choice, so I head that way, but I'm greeted by the scowling face of Ryusuke.

"Sorry, Shinji, but nobody is allowed in until the allotted time," he tells me.

"On whose orders?" I ask, figuring that the Ultimate Bodyguard may not be the most autonomous of figures. Someone must've told him this was a good idea or else he wouldn't have done it.

"Why, yours of course," he replies, and I realise that when I made my suggestion to meet back here, he must have misinterpreted and figured it would be best to keep everyone else out until the time comes. "My duty is to keep the peace and ensure nothing untoward happens before we decide how the election process will be conducted!"

"Well, that's a good idea, but you don't need to block off the area," I say. He seems a little surprised at this revelation but nonetheless he relents, standing by and giving me permission to enter. I now realise this was a completely pointless endeavour as there won't be anyone in here if he's been keeping them all out, so I try next door in the laundry room. Last time I came in here, there were people, so it's not unreasonable. Oddly enough, I spy Zange crouched down next to one of the washing machines. What laundry could she possibly have accumulated in such a short time?

"Well, if it ain't Zombie!" she calls out as I enter the room.

"Huh?" is my immediate reaction before my brain has time to process what she's just said. Zombie? Do I really look that bad?

"Don't ya like it? I can call you somethin' else if you like," she offers, slamming the washing machine door shut and standing up straight.

"Nah, that's fine," I say, declining her offer in case she comes up with something even worse. "But why the nickname?"

"That's just the way I call people," she replies. "I ain't too good with all your fancy pronouns and stuff. It's kinda hard to get your head 'round all that when you've been livin' in another country so long." Aha! So that's where the odd twang in her accent comes from, she's a gaijin. At least with Dulce it was incredibly obvious that she hails from somewhere vaguely within the Americas, but this girl definitely has some Japanese blood in her.

"So if you're not from here, where were you from?" I ask with caution in case this turns out to be some sob story where her parents were killed in some tragic accident or, worse still, never loved her and thus she had a miserable upbringing that led to a life of crime. She _did_ say she was born into it, after all.

"Born and raised in the States, I was," Zange replies. Now that makes perfect sense. If she's been living there near enough her whole life, you'd imagine it'd rub off on her quite a bit. "Me and Papa, we had this real nice cottage out in Alabama. There was this real swanky apartment we had out in New York, too. My mom still lives out there, apparently." Single parent family, huh? Well that goes some way as to explaining the burglary aspect. Sometimes, people go to the most desperate measures to make sure they've got enough to get by.

"Does your dad know about all this burglary stuff?" I ask. Must be one hell of a dad to be cool with his kid being a notorious criminal. Then again, she's not the only girl I know whose parents might be a bit nuts…

"Does Monokuma shit in the woods?" I dunno, does he? Are there woods around here? Could a robotic bear be programmed to shit? "Papa taught me the tricks o' the trade, Zombie! Our family's been doin' the whole Burglar of Justice thing for a long time! Just so happens I'm the best they ever produced." She seems pretty proud of this, as she sticks out her chest in confidence and her head is held high.

"Must've been a surprise having Hope's Peak Academy send for you, regardless," I remark. It's not often they pull in a wanted criminal, but there's some precedent for it apparently. Dad swears he knew a guy who went to Hope's Peak as an Ultimate Identity Thief, and he was so good at it that nobody knew his real name, not even him.

"I guess it was, in a way," Zange replies. "When I saw that letter, I thought 'why on God's Earth would a school like that wanna take little ol' me?' But I s'pose it's a good thing, really. Kinda justifies everything I stole." Stealing from yakuza is still stealing, you know. They're people too, just very mean people with little regard for human life outside the family.

"Same here, really," I say. "I mean, what kind of hope would an insomniac bring to the world? All I can think is reminding people having trouble sleeping 'it could be worse, you could go for a week at a time without sleep like this guy…'" Zange's tickled by this remark as she starts giggling in a cute and oddly reserved way. That'll be the Alabaman roots coming through.

"You know somethin', Zombie? You ain't so bad. Guess I definitely won't be stealin' your stuff now!"

"Not like I've got any stuff to steal anyway," I say flippantly. "There is this green chair, though..."

"Don't you go givin' me ideas now, Zombie," she says laughing. I feel like I'm already making a bit of a breakthrough here. We chat for a little while about some of her various heists before she reminds me there's laundry to be run. "Might be time to make a move, Zombie. There's things in there decent folks shouldn't be layin' eyes on. I can't stand the thought of that bear havin' his grubby paws all over 'em."

"Guess I'd better leave you to that, then," I say, not particularly interested in snooping. I don't bother to bring up the vote, as she probably still needs time to think that through, so I leave her to her business and step back out into the corridor. She's shared a bit of her past with me; I've shown her I'm not a dick like Daisuke. Altogether it's been a very productive chat.

I can't help but notice Ryusuke's back at his post again. I expected him to move after being reprimanded, but loyalty to not allowing anyone to be killed overrules all in this case. The kitchen is probably the most dangerous place on this floor, so I can see where he's coming from. As I pass him once more, he salutes me, a gesture I neither asked for nor needed.

Now, what to do for the rest of the time? Where else might people be hanging out? The reception area perhaps? Even if nobody's there, that shop had a few magazines in that I could read, which is better than nothing. The dorm corridor seems fairly empty, but I can hear a faint sound coming from the other end, like someone breathing. Is Rin following me again? I check behind me and there's no sign of her. That's a relief. After Monokuma's announcements, I'll never be comfortable with her following me around again.

The further down the corridor I get, the louder the sound becomes. I press myself against the door to the waiting room I awoke in, thinking perhaps Rin might be waiting there with a weapon drawn. Very slowly, I begin to open the door, which creaks horribly like in those terrible slasher movies. I must have been really sleep-deprived when I thought it was a good idea to watch those. I peer around the frame of the door, and to my relief I don't see that fur-lined coat anywhere. Instead, Nayumi's sleeping on the sofa next to the coffee table. This comes as no surprise to me, given the talent she was inducted for.

It would be nice to actually know a bit more about Nayumi, since she fell asleep immediately last time I tried to talk to her, so I go over to her side, pull up a chair, and lightly shake her shoulder like Dulce did. That seems to be a rather reliable trick to wake her up, as she almost immediately opens her eyes and turns herself around to face me properly.

"Oh, hello, Shinji," she says before letting out a big yawn.

"How come you were sleeping in here?" I ask. Bit of a stupid question, really.

"Well, I was about to head back to my dorm, and I spotted this sofa, and it looked so comfy…" She speaks so slowly and quietly, it's hard to make out half of what she's saying, so I have to be extra attentive.

"Think we could all do with a rest after what we've been through today, to be honest," I quip, and Nayumi smiles. I'm still surprised she was the one who got herself together the quickest, considering she slept through part of Monokuma's speech. I'm still not quite sure how much she knows of the killing game.

"I guess so," she says. "Do you really think he won't let us out?"

"Doesn't look like it," I say with a heavy heart. "Maybe Hikari could try and blow the doors open or something. That's really the only way I can think of, and even then, what do we do next? I'm not even sure where this hospital is in relation to Hope's Peak."

"Don't worry," Nayumi says, her eyelids fluttering. Great, she's about to fall asleep again. I need to say something quickly and probably quite loudly.

"You know, when I found out your talent, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it," I tell her. "Didn't expect to come across someone who's my complete opposite in here."

"Hmm, maybe opposites attract," she says, a lot less lucidly than before. She's probably already half zoned out of consciousness.

"Stay with me, Nayumi!" I urge, not out of fear or concern for her wellbeing, but simply because otherwise how am I going to know anything about her?

"Oh… sorry… guess I was falling asleep again…" I think I worked out who her famous father is. It's David Lynch, and he's the one behind this whole debacle. There's no other logical explanation for any of this. At least one thing is assured; the cafeteria probably does some damn good coffee.

"I gathered as much," I reply. "How do you even… y'know, live?"

"I could ask you the very same," she says without missing a beat. She's certainly no slouch in the wit department, that's for sure.

"Yeah, well we are two very extreme individuals," I answer her retort. "But seriously, how do you ever get stuff done when you're always falling asleep?" I eagerly await the answer to this one. Perhaps she has some amazing somnambulistic superpowers or something.

"I just like to sleep," she says. She likes it so much she turned it into an art form. Wonder if we can trade for a while? Actually, on second thoughts, making her endure some of the horrible shit that goes down after a few rough nights isn't worth narcolepsy. "I can do things when I put my mind to it. Except video games. They're too fast for me to react properly to what's going on onscreen." Maybe she should give visual novels a go. There's this one I've been hearing about that came out recently that's been getting a load of buzz on the internet. If only I could remember the name…

"Yeah, I kinda see what you mean there," I say. "After a while I get too twitchy and sloppy for that stuff." That's partially why Nanima's got my respect, the ridiculous bullet hell games she likes to stream look so difficult to complete, it's a wonder anyone can pass the first level.

"Oh well…" Nayumi's looking like she's ready to drop off again. "Don't worry. We all have different…" she lets out another big yawn before continuing. "…Different things we're good at."

"I suppose we do." Like how we're both good at completely defying biology. We're freaks of nature when it comes down to it. If someone came along and measured our melatonin levels, they'd get some truly messed up results.

"I'm… glad you came…" she says, and this time she's out like a light. Well, that was an abrupt end to the conversation. I watch Nayumi's sleeping form for a short while, wondering just how much there is I still don't know about this girl. She's interesting for sure, really nice, and I have to admit she's quite cute in an endearing way. She's exactly the kind of girl you'd just want to cuddle up to and watch movies with, unlike Hikari who'd spend the whole time bouncing around on the sofa and throwing popcorn everywhere. Better leave Nayumi to her slumber and check out the reception area like I was planning to.

Immediately, I walk straight into the middle of one of Akira's endless anecdotes.

"…And it landed right in the cockpit, took out the pilot and he rolled the plane over right into the other three planes on the runway, taking out the whole of the Benin Air Force in one fell swoop. Man, talk about a birdie shot…" Eizou, Zygoth, Eiko and Dulce have gathered around the seats in the corner, and Akira's chosen spot to stand and demonstrate his technique leaves them no means of escape. Thankfully for me, his back is turned towards the door so I'm able to slip by unnoticed and make my way into the shop. To my bemusement, the newspaper stand is totally empty with a crude 'OUT OF STOCK' sign written on a sheet of paper taped to it.

"Looking for some more reading material, are we?" The voice makes me spin round on my heels, bringing me face-to-face with Monokuma who's stood on the counter with a folded broadsheet under his arm. "I'm afraid there was a bit of a printing issue so they had to do a recall! Sorry! It's completely out of my paws!"

"What's going on in here, you bastard?" I ask the bear. Of course he wouldn't leave us anything that might alert us to what's happening in the outside world. He wants us to be completely focused on what's in here, abandon our hope and start killing each other for the sake of graduation.

"Oh, y'know, nothing! You guys haven't even started contemplating all the wonderful ways you could be killing your fellow students!" Monokuma says with glee.

"And I don't intend to start anytime soon," I reply.

"Try saying that in a few days' time! I know who you are and what goes on in that screwed-up head of yours. Why else do you think I'd keep you around? Certainly not for your looks! Puhuhu!" Monokuma laughs with glee at his own terrible version of wit. It's a struggle to keep my cool, but I know he's trying to get a rise out of me and cause me to snap. I'm not going to be the catalyst that sets this whole killing game off. Killing ain't my business.

"What do you get out of all this? Why go through the hassle of setting all this up?" I'm sure the answer will be nonsensical, of course, but it's worth asking. Villains love torturing their victims.

"Everything is in the name of despair! Lovely, gooey despair. Puhuhuhuhu! Oooooh, I'm gettin' all hot and bothered just thinking about it!" I wish Monokuma would stop gyrating his hips like that, it's really creeping me out. This is like a lapdance from hell, and I'm expected to pay for it in blood. "Go forth and multiply that despair, baby! You know you want to give in to that delicious despairing feeling…" I suspect whoever's controlling this bear might well be doing it with one hand. It makes me shudder just thinking about it, really. I back away slowly, wishing to put distance between myself and Monokuma for both our safeties, and feel the hard wooden stand jabbing into my back.

"You'll never get what you want," I say.

"Oh, you keep on believing that," Monokuma replies, and the gyrating stops as he extends an arm, three sharp steel claws emerging from the paw. "I think you'll find that might change veeeeeeeeery quickly!" An evil glimmer shines from that jagged red eye, and I suspect I'm about to be eviscerated for messing with his plans despite not directly breaking any rules.

"Shinji!" A cold female voice cuts through the moment like a vorpal blade, and Monokuma ducks beneath the counter and vanishes as Rin walks up beside me. Don't tell me she's been following me again…

"Rin? How come you're here?" I ask. I can't imagine her being drawn to any of the tacky goods or sugary snacks that the shop is stocked with, so she must have known I was here.

"The others are returning to the cafeteria for a late lunch," she informs me. Wow, that time sure passed quickly. I'm not particularly hungry right now, but there's safety in numbers. Monokuma seems to have some sort of vendetta against me. My best option for now is to integrate myself into the group. So far I've mainly been Hikari's chaperone, and she didn't exactly give the best of first impressions earlier on, so by association people may just take to disliking me. Plus, I don't know what sort of rumours Alicia could be spreading.

"I'm guessing they didn't ask you along," I remark, having a good idea of the methods Rin may have used to obtain her knowledge.

"Alas, they did not," she laments poetically. As expected of a librarian, Rin has a bit of a way with words when she can be bothered to use them. "Come along when you're ready. I'd expect we'll have our candidates soon enough." Rin slinks off silently, running a hand along the wall. I follow with some trepidation, almost reversing the roles we've played in each other's lives so far as I retrace my steps to the cafeteria.

**A.N.: Thanks once again to all you lovely people reviewing, you're my main drive to keep churning out these chapters. It sure helps alleviate the monotony of applying for jobs every day, that's for sure. **


	8. Chapter 1: Democracy

Chapter 1: Democracy

One thing I wasn't expecting to see when I arrived at the cafeteria was a queue, but courtesy of Ryusuke and his disciplinarian attitude, we've got one. More surprising is the fact that almost everyone has unquestionably complied.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" I have to ask.

"We're queueing," Eiko says. Yeah, I can see that. I cut the queue, strolling past everyone else to confront Ryusuke on the matter.

"Ryusuke, I know you're acting in everyone's best interests here, but is this really necessary?" I ask him. He clicks his heels and salutes me once again. Speaking of unnecessary actions…

"I've done everything I can to prevent anyone turning on us, sir!" he replies.

"You've served admirably, Ryusuke, but you can relax now," I inform the overly-enthusiastic Ultimate Bodyguard. Having him constantly on edge like this will only encourage someone to go off the deep end if he keeps this up. Hopefully once we've got a proper leader in place, he'll mellow out a bit and be able to have faith in everyone.

"As you say, Shinji, sir! Everyone, go on in. I'll fetch Haru right away. He must have had sufficient time to himself by now." Ryusuke walks off towards Haru's dorm room with powerful strides. Even though he's pretty uptight, I guess it's good to have someone like him around to keep the peace. He just needs to learn when to chill out. The others enter the cafeteria in single file, with Rin at the rear as expected. Although Haru and Ryusuke are accounted for, I saw neither Daisuke nor Hikari in the queue. Hopefully they'll find their own way here soon.

I get myself a cup of coffee from the machine on one of the counters, just the black stuff. It's not the best cup I've ever had but it'll do. As I sip my coffee, I observe the various goings-on around me and it appears we're already forming cliques. Dulce, Zange and Nayumi gather at one table, Eiko, Nanima and Alicia are gathered around another table, Eizou, Haruki, Zygoth and a very animated Akira at another and of course, Rin's all alone in the corner. I decide I might as well accompany her seeing as she was the one who brought me here.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," she says. "Someone coming to talk to me. I rather think the both of us were happier just watching everyone else interact." In front of her is a little black leather-bound notebook with a sleek black ball-point pen balanced atop it, the golden nib shining like a star in the night sky. I've seen my fair share of those, and honestly, I'm not gonna miss them that much.

"Trust a librarian to have fancy stationary," I remark flippantly. I see the faintest of smiles on Rin's face before her expression returns to total neutrality. "Is there anything about me in there?"

"Those secrets are for my eyes only," she replies. I imagine she's not the type to divulge in gossip freely. Hell, her informing me of the others' plans is a shock in itself. Maybe she's got some kind of secret crush on me or something? I immediately brush off that thought because it's totally ridiculous.

"You must have a good idea who the prime candidates for this vote are gonna be, though," I say, bringing the burning issue to the forefront. If anyone can gauge the current political climate in Cresthaven Hospital, it'll be Rin and her little black book.

"There are some… standout candidates, yes. As for who they are, I'm sure you'll find that out soon enough," she says, layering riddles upon riddles. It's true, there are a few people who'll absolutely run away with it and people I wouldn't trust in a month of Sundays, but I couldn't tell you who'll win with any degree of confidence. My preferred choice is still Haruki though, because he's one of the few sane people in this place and we could do with drilling some sense into people.

"Never fear, Haru Nishishoka is here!" Ryusuke declares as he wheels our honoured guest into the cafeteria. A couple of years ago you'd see that headline in the newspapers on a weekly basis as they documented Haru's latest great triumph over evil. Self-styled villains from across the country would bait him out by committing every crime imaginable, but not one was ever able to overcome him and escape justice. You'd never have thought that was possible looking at him now.

"Don't ever say that again," Haru growls. "It makes me sick." He looks very uneasy, and it doesn't help that everyone's turning and staring at him. There was a time he'd relish all the attention he's getting, but that time has long since passed. Best to give him a wide berth and say nothing.

"I'm guessing he's not on your list," I say to Rin once Haru's a safe distance away.

"If someone were to instil him with his former vigour, he'd be the most capable of us by far," Rin replies. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to cheer that guy up. All that grief and resentment will take a long time to pass.

"We're gonna have to deal with what we've got," I say as Daisuke appears at the entrance.

"I care not for this democratic business, but regardless, here I am," he says, ambling into the cafeteria and making sure not to maintain eye contact with anybody as he passes through. I watch as he hovers around the food counters, analysing their contents and carefully picking out a couple of items. His criticisms even extend to his diet. How can anyone enjoy living like that, putting everything under such scrutiny?

Rather befitting his planet-sized ego, he seats himself at the large table and begins to eat in total silence. Now I'm turning into Rin. I don't watch for much longer, partly because I'm becoming incredibly self-aware and partly because I hear a familiar voice echoing down the corridor.

"Hey, hey! In English it's called fire!" I dread to think what Hikari's up to.

"I'd better go see what's up with Hikari," I say to Rin, snatching up my coffee and taking quite a large gulp from it. For once I'm thankful it wasn't particularly warm. I take it out with me into the corridor, where I see Hikari carrying a wastepaper basket crammed full of paper. This can only be heading one way.

"Hey hey, Shinji's not on fire!" Nice to see you, too, Hikari. She drops the basket to the floor with a horrid clatter as she waves, the impact causing the paper to fly out dramatically. I swerve out of the way to avoid being tackled to the floor by a girl who lives life to the full. Maybe we do need Ryusuke stationed after all. She grabs onto my sleeve, yanking me back into the cafeteria before putting a finger to my lips.

"Sssssssh," she says much more quietly than usual. "Don't ruin the surprise." She removes the finger, giving me a chance to reply.

"Surprise?" I enquire, but already she's run off.

"Hey, Shinji," Haruki calls from his table. "We're all here now, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I reply with more than a little uncertainty. "Hikari just…"

"Let's start already," Daisuke interrupts, raising his voice to be heard above the others. "If we must discuss this matter, I give you permission to share my table." My, what a generous soul he is, being so considerate as to let us use the table that's clearly intended for big meetings. The cafeteria becomes an ocean of students, all descending on the big table. There's no real cohesion to the seating plan, although one of the ends is fully occupied by Haru's wheelchair and Ryusuke declines a seat, choosing to stand beside his chosen charge. I plonk myself down at a random spot and end up sandwiched between Alicia and Eiko. This'll be interesting.

"Surpriiiiiiiiiiiiiise!" Hikari shouts as she runs in holding a now-burning wastepaper basket. Fucking wonderful. It was really only a matter of time before something like this happened. Eiko shrieks in horror, recoiling as far as she can from the flames. What was supposed to be an organised and civilised meeting descends into total pandemonium as Hikari deposits her little surprise in the middle of the table with everyone scrambling away and shouting orders to one another.

"May the Municipal Conglomerate of Hrothgar-Throm protect us all!" Zygoth incants, drawing a red chalk outline around himself, grinding the end of his piece of chalk into dust.

"Get it away from me!" Eiko screams, clinging onto me as we both move away. Only Daisuke remains level-headed, pulling a bottle of water off the shelf and dumping its contents into the basket while everyone else's primary instinct was to distance themselves from it. I glance around the cafeteria, noting the horrified expressions on everyone's faces. Even Rin seems to have gone completely rigid. This is starting to get out of hand.

"Hikari, what the hell were you thinking?" I shout, unable to stop myself. I knew something like this was going to happen. The moment I came across her in the corridor I should have confiscated that basket.

"It worked! Look how surprised everyone is!" Hikari declares. Is this sheer obliviousness even possible?

"Now that you dunderheads have ceased your mindless raucousness, perhaps we could finally commence our meeting?" Daisuke requests. "And for heaven's sake, someone clean up this mess!" Well, it's going to have to be me, isn't it? As everyone else inches towards the table, almost as though anticipating the paper to combust again, I grab it off the table and deposit it outside the cafeteria, not knowing quite where it came from. I snatch some napkins from by the coffee machine and wipe up the water left on the table before taking my old seat back. Hikari's placed herself between Rin and Eiko for some inexplicable reason, but she's keeping relatively still and quiet for once.

"At last, we can begin," Zygoth says. A little to his left, I see Dulce surreptitiously making sure Nayumi's awake. "Now then, as you all know, we're going to hold a vote to determine who will lead us in such desperate times. After consultation with several other members of our troupe, we have decided anyone who sees themselves as fit to lead can declare themselves as candidates. Be warned, however, that your responsibilities will be grave! You must be able to keep calm during a crisis, formulate multiple escape plans of varying degrees of feasibility and above all, have the unanimous support and respect of all others. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I, Zygoth, am running for election!" I almost expect to hear a round of applause after that speech. The Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist has set the bar pretty high. Alicia doesn't look best pleased though.

"That's all very well, but are you sure you're the man for the job?" she asks. I picked a bad place to sit.

"I take it you've got a candidate in mind, then," I say, recalling our earlier exchange.

"As a matter of fact, I do. You dudes all seem to be forgetting we've already got a natural leader among us." Lucky me, I'm sandwiched between Eiko and her advocate. She may watch over the Green Ram's flock, but has she got what it takes to lead Hope's Peak Academy to salvation? We'll soon see, as she rises from her seat. I notice her glancing at the centre of the table before she starts her proclamations.

"Well, I've never been part of a vote before, but I'm confident the Green Ram will lead you all down the correct path, away from the bear as bright as day and dark as night! I promise that I'll do my absolute best to guide everyone away from temptation and once we get out of here, you'll all be inducted as honorary members of the Order." I'm almost expecting her to offer us a brochure and a free jacket as enticement to join her messed-up cult.

"Yeah! You go, Eiko!" shouts Nanima encouragingly. If you're gonna try to indoctrinate the world, picking a girl with a million fans and some serious spunk isn't a bad place to start.

"Some people don't take my ideas seriously, and I can understand that. After all, not all of us have been enlightened by His Wooliness appearing before their very eyes! But I have seen him, and I have seen his angels at work, walking on this very Earth! Green is the colour of grass, a colour of freshness and tranquillity, and I hope all of you can open your minds and souls to the Green Ram's words. Vote for me!" Correct me if I'm wrong, but she's not actually addressed any of the issues Zygoth raised. She's certainly very enthusiastic and truly believes she can make a difference, but her complete and utter devotion to her god is a little off-putting.

"I'm likin' this," Dulce remarks. "Back where I come from, we only got one guy to vote for."

"How does that even work?" Akira asks, his jaw dropping in shock.

"That's what we'd refer to as a dictatorship," Daisuke says wearily. "You should really think before you ask stupid questions."

"So, we've got two candidates, Zygoth and Eiko," Haruki says. "Shinji spoke on my behalf earlier, and I appreciate that. It's great to see someone's got belief in me, just as I want to believe in all of you. I'm wary of throwing my weight around, though, especially with two fantastic candidates already vying for the position." No way. Leaving those two to contend the position without a level head to curb the madness is just asking for trouble.

"So wait, can we vote for you or not?" Eizou asks. "Actually, how are we gonna vote?"

"I can make some ballot papers," Dulce offers. "I got a whole box of paper in my dorm, and Zygoth's got a ton of pens."

"Good work, Dulce," Haruki says. "Now, is there anybody else who wants to be a candidate? Alicia, perhaps?" The hair on the back of my neck bristles at this proposition. Haruki's being far too humble here.

"If you stand, then for the sake of equality, so will I," she replies, accepting the challenge of a man. "I'm an athlete, not a politician, but believe me, survival is my first priority. Even if it means I've got to cooperate with some people I'd rather not associate with." Like the guy you're sat next to, perhaps?

"Excellent. Anyone else?" Haruki asks. Hikari's hand shoots straight up and she starts bouncing up and down in her seat like a toddler who needs the potty.

"This won't end well," Eizou groans. Several others also voice their discontent at allowing Hikari to say her piece, worried that allowing her to weigh in on our democracy will lead to another disaster.

"Yes, Hikari? Do you have something to add?" Zygoth asks.

"Feather-head, you're cool, but Shinji is waaaaaaaaay cooler! And there's a reason they call it the rule of cool!" Hikari proclaims. Zygoth's eyes grow wide with what I can only assume is sheer horror, and the murmurs of disquiet start up once more. Did she just put me forward? I'm not a born leader. If I can't keep Hikari in check, then what hope do I have of stopping a killer?

"She's making a mockery of the vote," Eizou says, gobsmacked.

"This isn't a popularity contest, you know," Rin states coldly.

"Leave it to him," Haru says. "If he thinks he can handle the heat, become the hero you all so desperately seek, let him. Then we can watch Icarus fall…" Going by this frosty reception, I'm not wanted in the leadership position anyway.

"I'll pass," I say now that the focus is on me. Any more candidates and we'll all end up voting for ourselves.

"Excellent," Zygoth says, his authoritative confidence returning.

"Hey, don't think that means you've got a better chance of winning, dude!" Alicia warns the conspiracy nut.

"I'm sure the blessing of the third moon of Xandyth will allow the correct choice to be made," replies the king of craziness.

"So that settles it then," Haruki says. "Me, Zygoth, Alicia and Eiko will be your candidates. Dulce, can you get those ballot papers ready for tomorrow morning?"

"¡No problemo, Haruki!" Dulce asserts, giving the Ultimate Singer the thumbs-up. With her laid-back attitude and Nayumi's sleepy influence, I sense that deadline might be a bit of a struggle. "We got somethin' to stick those ballots in?"

"I've got a box that one of my capture cards came in," Nanima says. "Hopefully I can help you guys out!"

"If you're willing to collect the ballots, I assume you'd also be willing to count them for us," Haruki suggests, an offer which Nanima enthusiastically accepts.

"So much for 'we ain't got the stuff,'" says Zange, an obvious ironic reference to Dulce's earlier statement.

"Alright, everyone, let's leave it there. Tomorrow, Dulce will hand out the ballot, and once we hit night-time, we'll count them. You all know who you can vote for, and you know where to find us all. Not that there's many places we could be," Haruki says jovially, and with that, the meeting is over. For the first time since we got shut in this place, I'm feeling vaguely optimistic. By tomorrow evening, we'll have a leader established and we can finally start working out how we're getting out of here. Even after Hikari's extremely misjudged surprise, we've managed to make some serious progress.

Everyone starts getting up and going their separate ways, with the exception of Daisuke. He's just sat there, watching us all with those beady bespectacled eyes of his. I lean over to try and grab his attention. I'd like to grab his lapels as well and give him a damn good shaking, but that's out of the question.

"Oh, it's you," he says in a flat tone.

"Indeed it is." I reply just as flatly.

"If you're going to try and encourage me to vote, cease your actions at once," he orders. "I don't see a reason to partake in such folly. You would have been better served had you decided upon a leader at this very table. Every moment you delay the decision allows more and more darkness to creep into your hearts. Mark my words, this election will end in bloodshed." With that, he rises from his plastic throne and departs, leaving behind a feeling of dread. I shouldn't trust him, though, or at the very least shouldn't allow him and his words to deflate the mood so easily.

Now, some of us will be deep in thought, planning meticulously for the trials ahead and coming up with ways to win over the student voters. Others will be considering their options, knowing that their decision could drastically change the atmosphere about this hospital. As for Hikari, who knows what kind of crazy shit she'll be up to? As for me, as always in a world of chronic insomnia, I've got some free time that needs filling one way or another. There are plenty of students I've not spoken to properly, and there's no better time for it.

**A.N.: My sincerest thanks go out to everyone who submitted and is still reviewing. I've so enjoyed bringing all your characters to life, and the reviews I've received have kept me going at a tough time in my life. I seriously can't thank you enough for that. **


	9. Chapter 1: Free Time II

Chapter 1: Free Time II

After dumping my now-cold coffee, I start thinking about who I should be spending my time with. Eizou, perhaps? He seemed rather alarmed at the prospect of me becoming leader. Shame, because I thought we got on quite well earlier. I pull out the e-handbook, looking for guidance, and lo and behold, it has a map function that even Dulce would be jealous of. This one is completely electronic, can be zoomed in and out, and even shows where everybody is at the present time. Rather inexplicably, Eizou's in the operating theatre.

My trip down the sterile white corridors is occasionally punctuated by the footfall of other students, and as I pass the emergency ward I hear one of the candidates very loudly explaining their manifesto to their potential voters. I crack open the door to the operating theatre and Eizou's lining up several chunks of different coloured rocks on the operating table, examining them with a small magnifying glass. Several other tools are laid out on the table too.

"Oh hey," he says as I enter the room. "Wasn't expecting any visitors. Don't mind me, just checking out my rock collection." It's no wonder he's got massive pockets if he's hauling rocks around everywhere. Even in a time of such intensity, with all of our lives on the line, he's still able to find time to indulge in his passion.

"Never did know much about rocks," I say. They're all so strikingly different, it's clear Eizou's got a good eye for these things. He's not content to pick any old boring chunk and call it a day.

"These rocks you see here, they're from all over the world!" Eizou declares. He picks up a round green rock and holds it closer to me. "This one's serpentine. Got this one off the coast of Cornwall. You ever heard of Cornwall?" That's a name I may have heard before. Certainly not somewhere around here, that's for sure. Gonna have to hazard a guess here.

"Cornwall… that's England, right? You sailed all the way to England for a rock?" Now that's extreme. Eizou bursts out laughing, a deep throaty sound that would sound incredibly scary if I didn't know the source.

"You bet I did!" he confirms. "Moored up along the coast at the southern-most part of the British Isles and found this one when the tide was out. They mine this stuff and make it into sculptures to sell to tourists down there. What a waste of perfectly good rock!" I'd have thought most people would prefer their rocks to be sculpted, actually.

"I take it you didn't buy any," I say.

"Of course not! Even if I'd wanted to, I had no money on me. Spent weeks at sea and after all that, couldn't even buy lunch! Had to convince an American tourist to buy me something from the café. Man, that was a good trip. Wish I'd brought the dickite I got during that same trip too…" Seems like every rock has a story behind it. Wouldn't do me any harm to ask about more.

"How about this one?" I ask, pointing to a white rock with a bunch of layers.

"That's kaolinite," Eizou says, grinning. "Now this one, I woulda liked to have got a bigger chunk of, but I moored up off the coast of an island under control of the Chinese army and they weren't too pleased to see me. They thought I was a spy! Now when have you ever seen a spy that looks like me?" Isn't that kind of the point of spies, that they could be anywhere? If they went around in fedoras and trench coats these days, they'd stick out like a sore thumb.

"So did you pick that up before or after you got caught?" I enquire.

"After," Eizou replies. "Went round the other side of the island and excavated this bit while they were all waiting for an armada to show up on the other side. You'd have thought they'd have enough men to cover the entire island." He seems incredibly eager to share the stories behind all his rocks, and he proceeds to talk me through all his specimens in quite some detail. The general gist of most of them seems to be 'Japanese rocks are boring so I went off around the world to find better ones.' But of course, there's a far more crucial question to be asked regarding his obsession with rocks.

"What was it that got you interested in geology?" Eizou goes deep in thought, pulling that menacing looking face again, before he produces his answer.

"Well, I'd say it was my mum who got me into it actually," he starts. "She's a landscape photographer, a pretty good one at that. You've probably seen her work, lots of big companies hire her to do backgrounds for ads and stuff, and some of them she puts up as stock photos that people pay to use. So this one time, when I was younger and my dad was working so couldn't look after me that day, mum took me down to the beach for one of her shoots, trying to get some panoramic shots of the horizon and such. It wasn't a sandy beach at all, so she didn't really wanna take me, but with Dad busy, she didn't have a choice.

"That day was the day I discovered I loved rocks. Some people might look at them and think 'those all look the same' but when you really start looking, each one is totally different with its own story to tell! That day I ended up going home with so many random bits of rock in my pocket, my pants were falling down! The next day, Mum bought me a book so I could identify all the rocks I'd brought home and well, it kinda escalated from there. Sailing didn't come into it 'til much later on. But that's a story for another time…" That right there says it all. He's eager to share all the stories of how he came across his rocks and where his love of geology sprung from, but when it comes to his actual talent, he's reluctant to touch upon it. Just goes to show that natural talent and passion don't always necessarily go hand in hand. All of his geological knowledge came about as the result of hard graft, because he had the thirst for it. He actively wanted to learn everything there is to know about geology and make his own mark on the field, but despite all the time he puts into sailing, he just doesn't care about it that much. It's like driving to work, except it takes about a thousand times longer.

"Well, let me know when you're ready to share that one," I say. "You and your rocks have fun now."

"I've still got boxes more of 'em!" Eizou announces with pride. "Wait, on second thought, that's kinda creepy because that mean Monokuma's been through my stuff…" His face is awash with anguish at this dawning realisation. "If he's messed with any of my precious rocks, he's gonna pay!" I think that's as good a time as any to leave, seeing as I was about to anyway. I silently pray to the various deities of Mesopotamia that the calming influence of Eizou's rock collection will stop him from killing anyone as I allow the door of the operating theatre to close behind me. Reflecting on that experience, Eizou seems a pretty easy guy to talk to, as long as what you want to talk about is rocks. He's definitely not a bad person, though. Anyone who goes after him had better watch out, though, because he's pretty hefty from the back-breaking effort that goes into sailing.

I glance around the corridor, looking for a clock, but don't see one. It's definitely not night time though, so I might as well see who else is available before the night falls upon us. I feel this is a good time for some political activism. I consult the e-handbook's map and it appears that three of the four candidates are hard at work campaigning, and since I already know who I'm most likely to vote for, listening in on their speeches won't do much to sway me. The only candidate free at the moment is Alicia, who's back in her dorm. I fear she may not be best pleased to see me after our petty disagreements, but if we're going to make it out of here, I need to make an effort to bury the hatchet.

There aren't many people around the dorms, and the only person in the cafeteria is Haru, sat looking miserable with a tray balanced on his lap. I notice that upon each dorm door is a stylised image of the occupant's face along with their name written in both hiragana and kanji, and Alicia's face looks fierce. I push the doorbell situated slightly to the right and I'm soon confronted with the real thing. She looks totally different now, with her hair tied back in a long ponytail, and her clothing now consists of a black vest and black shorts with a utility belt around her waist with a small leather bag and a canister of bug spray hanging off it.

"Oh, it's you," she says haughtily. "You here for a reason, dude?"

"Yeah," I reply, uncertain of how to proceed without infuriating her.

"Well, I'm about to go and do some archery practice up in that old abandoned ward." I can't exactly miss the opportunity to see an Ultimate in action now, can I? I've no archery expert, but I expect this could be pretty spectacular viewing.

"Would it be alright if I come along?" I ask, hoping not to have the door slammed in my face.

"Look, dude, I practice alone," she replies snippily. "You'd better not think just because I'm trapped in here, I'm about to lower my standards."

"Whoa, hold up now, that's not what I meant at all!" I protest. She's really eager to grab the wrong end of the stick when it comes to guys, even though my question was perfectly harmless. I sense she's not going to win this election, especially if she'd rather spend her time alone instead of trying to put herself out there as the leader we all need.

"I know you men and your insidious ways," Alicia says, pointing a finger at me. What did I do to deserve this? I'm just an insomniac, for crying out loud. "If you insist, then fine, maybe I'll let you watch, if you're truly interested in my archery. Just keep your hands and eyes off me." There'll be no unsolicited groping from me, that much is for sure. She retreats back into her room momentarily and comes out with her bow and a quiver of arrows slung across her shoulder. In her hand is a huge wooden target, which she holds towards me. Not knowing quite how I'm supposed to carry it, I take it in both hands and we make our way up the corridor towards the abandoned ward that I learned of from Eizou in the laundry room.

"What do I do with this?" I ask. This target's heavy and uncomfortable.

"Hang it up on that wall over there," Alicia orders, pointing to the back wall which currently has a massive portrait of an aged man with a wispy halo of white hair circling his hydrocephalic cranium hung upon it. Reluctantly, I carry the target over to the wall, propping it up against the bed closest to it while I read the plaque next to the portrait.

'Dr Verne Rossi: Chief Neuropsychologist at Cresthaven Hospital.' So we have confirmation that at least one doctor did indeed work here at some point, which means there must have been patients once. What happened here before Monokuma cleared the place out? And where is this Doctor Rossi now? I'm brought back to reality by the tapping of Alicia's impatient foot, and I get to work taking down the portrait and replacing it with the archery target.

"Move out of the way!" she yells, and I turn to see she's already got an arrow notched and drawn, ready to hit the bull's-eye. I sidestep just in time to see the arrow whip past my head and pierce the bull's-eye, vibrating from the impact.

"Nice shot," I remark, knowing I just had a brush with death. I keep out of the way while Alicia continues to practice with several types of arrow. For a short while, the only interaction we have is her occasionally ordering me to retrieve her arrows from the target. After innumerable bull's-eye shots, Alicia organises her arrows neatly then sticks them back into the quiver.

"I would've liked to have had more targets, but I've only got the one here," she comments as I'm taking the target down off the wall to replace it with the portrait of Doctor Rossi.

"That was still impressive stuff regardless," I tell her, because really, it was. Not once did she stray from her target. Every single one of her shots was neat and precise, yet delicate, the woman's touch coming through strongly. Of course she'd put an arrow through my brain if I started throwing gender stereotypes around.

"You've never seen me out in the field," she says. "Now go and get me some water and a croissant. Those are essential items for my cooldown." Better do as she says because she could easily beat the shit out of me if it came down to it. I scurry off down the corridor into the cafeteria to collect a bottle of water and a pastry and I find Haru still sitting there, his meal long finished. I guess he realised he couldn't put the tray back and just gave up. Figuring I might as well be a good Samaritan while I'm in here, I take the tray from him, empty its contents into the bin and put it back with the other trays.

"You didn't need to do that," he says. Well, I quite clearly did or else he would've done it himself.

"Well, I was hardly just gonna leave you hanging," I reply. "You alright to get back to your dorm yourself?"

"Definitely," Haru says. "I know you guys mean well and all, but could you all be a bit less overbearing? I had to dismiss Ryusuke because he insisted on trying to spoon-feed me." Okay, that's going just a little bit too far…

"I'll have a word about that," I tell Haru as pick up the items I came for. I leave him to make his own way back, as he would've liked, and take the water and croissant back to Alicia, who's leant against the wall twirling her bow around in her hand.

"You actually brought me them?" she asks, and I nod. "That just goes to show how weak you are, unquestionably taking a woman's orders like that." Isn't that what she wanted? Why the hell ask me to do stuff if you're gonna chastise me for it afterwards? I hand over the offending items and she glares at me while she takes a big gulp of water before silently eating the croissant. I've never felt so out of place.

"I will say one thing in your favour," she continues once she's eaten the croissant and brushed the crumbs off her vest. "You're not trying to hit on me. If you try anything on with me, I'll break you!" Wasn't planning on doing anything of the sort. Over the years, insomnia's really taken its toll in that department, so there aren't many women I'm really that interested in. I'm certainly not interested in someone who threatens to beat me up if I ever so much as look at them.

"I, uh…" My mouth leaps into action before my brain even begins to think of possible responses to that.

"Oh, of course, you don't need me when you've got the pyromaniac, do you?" she asks acerbically. My gaze wanders to that quiver of arrows and I wonder just how sharp they are.

"What? No! That's nothing," I protest, holding my hands up.

"Oh, really? I could have sworn I saw her running out of your room earlier shouting about how great you were in the bedroom." What? Is Alicia screwing with me right now? Is she trying to catch me out and use this against me?

"Look, I can explain…"

"I don't need you to explain. I know what you two are up to, and I'd appreciate if you told Hikari to keep her mouth shut about such affairs in future. Honestly, it's quite disgusting, you taking advantage of a poor girl like that. She's clearly not right in the head, yet you use her for your vile…" Alicia's rant is cut off halfway through by the sound of bells. Ding, dong, ding, dong! I turn towards the source of the sound, one of those monitors they have all over the place, and on the screen is Monokuma sitting in a doctor's office, dressed in surgical attire.

"Attention, students! It is now 10pm, and night time is about to begin! The cafeteria will now be locked until morning! Good night, sleep tight! And don't let the bed bugs bite! Although I'd hope there are no bed bugs here, this being a sterile environment and all! TTFN! Ta-ta for now!" The monitor then fades to black, and the night-time announcement is over. I didn't even realise it was that late. Man, Eizou could probably talk the hind legs off a donkey if he managed to keep me in that operating theatre for so long.

"Guess this is goodbye for now," I say to Alicia, hoping that she'll take pride in her athleticism and allow herself sufficient rest so I don't have to encounter her during the long night. I had the feeling we were going to make a breakthrough, put our differences behind us and figure out a way to cooperate, but it appears Alicia's got her own ideas. I'm certainly not the villain she thinks I am, but at the moment it really doesn't seem she's willing to reason with me. She sees me as yet another useless man who can't contribute anything worthwhile, and it'll take something bloody spectacular to change her mind.

"I rather think it is," she replies, slinging the quiver over her shoulder and striding past me out of the ward. "Oh, and by the way," she says, turning around briefly to deliver one final message. "If you happen to see that golfing fellow, do tell him to stop admiring my arse. There's an arrowhead with his name carved upon it, and the next time he ogles me it'll be headed directly for his heart." With that, she walks off down the now-dark corridor, leaving me to contemplate how I'm supposed to get through the next nine and a half hours.

**A.N.: Well this is a bit of a sadder set of Author's Notes than I would have liked to have put here, but unfortunately that thing I mentioned turned out to be a scam and kind of triggered a massive mental collapse. For now, the job search is off because right now I'm not in the best mental state to be jumping into full-time employment. I'll be seeing my doctor as soon as possible and spending the weekend with some friends, so hopefully that'll help. **

**On a more positive note, I loved writing this chapter. Probably the most fun I've had writing this fic yet. IfTimeWasStill was so right to convince me to keep these two in.**


	10. Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark II

Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark… II

I retreat to my room in the dark to contemplate how I'm going to pass the time. I regret not getting anything for myself from the cafeteria before it closed for the night, since now I'll feel myself slowly getting hungrier and thirstier as the hours pass. As I unlock the door, I press one hand against the wall, keeping it there so I can find the light switch. Hospitals may usually operate under a 'lights-out' policy on the wards, but in these private rooms we should be free to keep the lights on all night. As my fingers brush across the surface of the switch, I hear something, a soft whispering or murmuring sound that makes my whole body freeze. Instinctively I try to look from side to side, but it's pitch black in here which renders the act pointless. I've got to switch on the light.

The room blinks in and out of view as the fluorescent strip flickers to life. At this point, I may as well be living in a clichéd horror movie. What's next, Rin hiding behind the door with a knife in her hand? Once the ceiling strip stabilises, bathing the room in a harsh sterile glow, I notice the place is a mess. The green chair's been propped up against the bathroom door as though barricading someone in, all my drawers are open and the lamp's fallen over. Finally, and most concerning of all, my bed is occupied. The occupant has their back turned to me, but even so I'd recognise that mass of brown hair anywhere. Next time I see Monokuma, he's going to pay for this.

"Snow White doesn't believe in Jesus," she mumbles, and I can't tell if she's talking in her sleep or just trying to inform me that a fairy-tale character most likely doesn't embrace the teachings of the Bible.

"Hikari, what are you doing in my bed?" I ask.

"Sleeping," she replies, rolling over to face me. She looks groggy, but I probably look a hell of a lot worse right now. I ought to rephrase my question to get the point across.

"What I meant was, why are you in _my_ bed? What's wrong with your dorm?"

"The chair got lonely," she replies, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. I'm definitely not sleeping tonight. I wouldn't have done even without Hikari, but her being here means I'll be forced to entertain her for the night.

"I don't think it's too attached to this place," I say, fuelling her little fantasy that the chair is somehow sentient. "There must be room for it in your dorm, surely?"

"Nope," Hikari says with a smile. "My room's full of stuff! Lots and lots of stuff!" Hold on a second. If Eizou's got his rock collection here, and Alicia has her archery gear, then perhaps we might just have hit upon a way out of this place. All we'd have to do is blow up the walls and we can escape!

"Hikari, why didn't you tell me this earlier? We've got a way out of here! You could be the one who saves us all!" There's a glimmer of hope here after all. You'd never think this girl could hold the key to our escape.

"I could!" she agrees excitedly. "But ummm… I don't know where my room key is…" For fuck's sake, Hikari, why can't you be a bit more organised? At least I had the excuse of Monokuma being a dick and deliberately locking me out for his own amusement.

"Can't you remember where you had it last?" I ask her frantically. Everything is slipping away. I'm going to have to spend the night trapped in this hellhole with the most impossibly insane girl I've ever met. Hikari must be the embodiment of one of the trickster god Enki's jokes upon humanity. If that's the case, then Monokuma is probably the son of Nergal himself...

"Well, uh… nope! No idea! Hey, Shinji, how about we play a game to take our minds off it?" Now's not the time for games. We _need_ to find that key. Problem is, it could literally be anywhere, the corridors are all dark now and the cafeteria's closed off, so our capacity to search is limited. You'd think someone would've been smart enough to bring a torch with them.

"I guess we'll need some way of passing the time," I reason. In the morning, I'll tell everyone to keep an eye out for the key to Hikari's dorm.

"Great! Do you know how to play gin rummy?" Hikari asks.

"I don't, but an entire night's probably long enough to get a grasp on the rules," I reply. "But first, let me use the bathroom. And don't even think about coming in!" I enter the bathroom, suddenly finding myself wishing it did have a lock, and go through the usual routine of night preparation, the details of which don't need to be elaborated on. Hikari's outside the door, peeking in through the crack, watching me all the while and making me feel uneasy. It really is like being back at home with my little sister. As much as I hate the little brat sometimes, I do miss her. I've done my fair share of the child-rearing, since I had all that time on my hands to cover nightly feeds and stuff. Boy, was I glad when she finally started sleeping through the night. If only Hikari could do the same…

I leave the bathroom, and Hikari yanks me over to my bed to show me how gin rummy works, sitting herself down cross-legged on my pillow. As I follow suit on the opposite side, she takes a dog-eared deck of playing cards off the bedside table. As Hikari shuffles the deck while simultaneously rattling off rules at the speed of sound, I notice several cards have been singed and blackened by smoke. This makes things very confusing, as even when all the cards have been dealt some of them are so severely scorched that I can hardly make out what they are.

"Alrighty, let's goooooooooo!" Hikari shouts, taking one card off the remaining pile and discarding another. And then, with all the inevitability of day following night, she starts singing. "_You can dance, you can jive, havin' the time of your life…"_ For the next nine hours or so, I'm treated to various renditions of the entirety of ABBA's back catalogue, and that combined with me having to pick up the rules on the fly means Hikari is first to storm to a mighty ten thousand points. By this point, I'm almost glad when the bells toll, the monitor flares up and Monokuma delivers his morning announcement.

"Goooood morning everyone! And afternoon and evening too! It is now 7.30am, and the cafeteria is reopened! Have you all taken your medicine? No? Too bad! Anyway, let's make today another spectacular day of recovery from that affliction they call hope!" Quick as a flash, the image on screen disappears. I guess I should give Hikari credit for making it possible to get through all that time without my mind being enveloped by darkness.

Today's the day we elect ourselves a leader. I was hoping this process would bring us all together in harmony, but I've still got ongoing conflicts with a couple of my fellow students, and I imagine a myriad more have a huge problem with Hikari after the stunt she pulled yesterday. It's time to return to the scene of that particular crime and get some breakfast. Perhaps it would be prudent of me to hoard some snacks for the night this time instead of allowing myself to starve. After a night without sleep, hunger and thirst feel a hundred times worse.

I leave Hikari to her own devices, hoping not to come back to a flooded bathroom or my bed sheets on fire. Unsurprisingly, I'm one of the first into the cafeteria. Ryusuke's already there with a colossal breakfast before him. I don't think I could tackle anything like that, but coffee and bento seems like the way to go. I sit myself down and open the box up, and there's a rice ball modelled on Monokuma's face staring right back at me. Suddenly I feel much less hungry, but I eat Monokuma's face, pretending it's the real deal, and drink my coffee while the other students start to file in and eat their breakfasts.

As promised, Nanima enters with a cardboard box in her hands, painted black and with 'VOTES' written on it in white, presumably with supplies she found in the storeroom. She places it down on the big table and others start to gather round. I take this as my signal, leaving the bento box behind to start casting my vote. Or at least I would if we had any ballots.

"Someone go and fetch Dulce," Haruki says as I draw near. "It was her responsibility to make those ballots. We can't start without her."

"You want me to go wake up Adora the Explorer?" Zange asks.

"Summon the foreigner by any means you have at your disposal," says Zygoth. I notice his collection of pens has changed from a rainbow array to all blue.

"Alrighty," Zange replies, breaking off from the rest of the group and moving toward the door. There isn't much need for this, as Dulce makes her entrance almost immediately, dropping pieces of paper everywhere. Zange helps pick up the scattered pieces and brings them over to our large table, organising them into a neat pile. However, as soon as we get a good look at them, it's immediately obvious that something's off about them.

"Dulce, these ballots are completely blank!" complains Alicia.

"There had better be a good explanation for this, and be forewarned that any and all weaknesses in your testimony _will_ be highlighted," Daisuke says, dour and serious as ever.

"Well uh… I was gonna work on 'em, but I took a nap, and when I woke up I figured eh, _mañana!" _Dulce replies. Somehow I don't think that excuse is going to go over too well with her cohorts.

"That was the deadline I set, Dulce. We agreed on this, and I expected ballots to be ready for today," Haruki says sternly, admonishing her as though he was already leader.

"Well, ya know, where I come from, we like to relax. Take it easy, man…"

"We can't take it easy!" Eiko screams. "Every minute we spend imprisoned here allows the devil to weave evil into all of our minds! If we don't act soon, even the Green Ram will be unable to offer us salvation!" She sure likes to gesture when she gets passionate about her cult, and those sleeves are flying everywhere.

"Y'all realise we have paper here, right?" Zange asks, picking some pieces up for emphasis. "Y'all can just write your votes down and put 'em in that there box! All ain't lost yet!" There are a few murmurs of agreement, and Zygoth unclips one of the pens from his pocket in preparation. There's still someone we're missing, though…

"Shinjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Right on cue, here comes Hikari like a wrecking ball, ploughing into me and knocking everything off the table. Now's my cue to dispense some rather important information. We're going to have to cling to every last fibre of hope if we're going to make it out of here.

"Hikari, did you find your room key yet?" I ask her before I pick myself up and turn to everyone else. I notice many expressions of amusement, but Alicia's glaring at me with a look that could turn a man to stone. "Anyone else who finds Hikari's key, let me know immediately. It might well be our best way outta here…"

"Looking for something?" As the others are gathering up the box and papers, that awful screechy voice makes my blood run cold. On the counter beside the coffee machine, holding my empty bento box in one hand and a dangling keychain in the other, is Monokuma.

"You!" I can't help myself at this point. I'm getting that damn key. In a feat of acrobatics I didn't even know I was capable of, I vault over the table, kicking Eiko out of the way before pouncing at Monokuma. The loss of a day's sleep has taken its toll on my reactions, though, as I misjudge my trajectory and slam into the counter, smacking my ribs pretty hard and winding myself. Monokuma stands astride my chest triumphantly and all I can do is gasp in pain as he opens his mouth wide, dangling the key just above it before dropping it in and swallowing it whole.

"Whoops! Guess you won't be getting that back now! It's a good job you missed, though, because otherwise you would've been directly violating my rules, and you know how much I hate that! You would've been deader than a passenger pigeon! Such a naughty boy, Shinji Yoshida…" Monokuma jumps off my chest and onto the big table, looking at our little makeshift polling booth with curiosity. I cautiously clamber to my feet, using a chair for support, as he yanks Zygoth's pen out of his hand and starts writing on a scrap of paper.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks Nanima.

"What's it look like? I'm voting!"

"But…"

"Nobody said I wasn't allowed to vote," Monokuma points out. "Besides, isn't that supposed to be what democracy is all about? Are we not supposed to allow everyone the opportunity to have their say in how things are run?"

"Are we seriously gonna count this nutjob's vote?" Eizou asks.

"I doubt we have a choice," mutters Haruki.

"Want me to whack him with the chair again?" asks Akira.

"I'd rather you didn't," says Rin coldly, drawing her hood tighter over her head. Monokuma finishes writing out his vote and sticks his ballot in the box. Then, he climbs atop the box and from who-knows-where, pulls out a megaphone.

"Attention, everybody! I have something very important to say, so listen up. I declare this whole election a farce! A big, stinky, sweaty farce! In fact, I'd almost say that everyone involved in this election has their own little agenda. Why, don't you remember what happened after I left? Who were the first three to advocate the election?" I try and think back to that conversation, and I gradually remember that exchange.

"We can't just have a leader appointed on the word of one man," Alicia said. "All of us should be allowed to have our say in the matter."

"Indeed, this is true! In order for this to be fair, we must deal with this democratically!" The second to speak was Zygoth.

"A vote sounds like it could be a good compromise." Damn, it was Haruki!

"Yes, that's right! Hatoyama Saburo, you're so obsessed with politics, wouldn't it just be the _perfect_ way to earn your graduation by manipulating the vote, putting yourself in charge so nobody would dare accuse you? Alicia Arcuarias, as leader, you could easily dispense with one of the men and not be challenged! And Haruki Shinozaki… I'll leave his plans to your imagination, because if I declared it here, the networks would censor it!" The manipulative little shit's got everyone listening. I wouldn't be surprised if we opened up that ballot box and found out he'd voted for himself.

"What about me?" asks Eiko defiantly. "I didn't express any interest in the election. Don't try to slander me, demon!"

"Well, well, look who's spoken up. The other candidate! And guess what? She was chosen by _someone else!_ Coincidence? I think not! Why, I'd say you being the Ultimate Cult Leader makes you a prime target…"

"Begone, foul beast!" Zygoth yells, tossing a handful of salt at Monokuma, who starts dramatically wobbling on top of the box.

"I'm melting! I'm meltiiiiiiiiiing!" the bear shrieks, dropping the megaphone. There's an explosion of smoke, and we're all blinded for a short while. The voice of Monokuma, distorted but still unmistakably his, rings out across the cafeteria. "I'm expecting to see a killing in the next twenty-four hours! Don't you disappoint me now! Consider this election as a motive. Anyone who's still planning on voting at this point may want to reconsider…"

When the smoke dissipates, most of us are visibly shaken, save the usual suspects, and the megaphone is gone. Eiko has her sleeves covering her face and is quietly sobbing to herself. Having the Devil himself appear before you and order you to kill people must still be quite a shock to the system.

"You're not gonna… listen to him, are you?" she says quietly, sniffling.

"Eiko, of course not," Alicia says, trying to reassure her with a friendly hand on the shoulder. "I would never do such a thing."

"But would _she?_" Zygoth asks. Damn, Monokuma's got exactly what he wants. "For all we know, she may be a contemporary Jim Jones, waiting to lead all her little green lambs to the slaughter!"

"Don't you dare compare the Order to a suicide cult!" Eiko shouts forcefully, slamming her hands on the table, knocking empty ballots away with her sleeves. "I'm _nothing_ like that evil, evil man!"

"Neither of you have any validity to your claims, so I'll ignore them," Daisuke says, yawning. "I never cared much for this election anyway."

"Eiko, just try and calm down," I urge, but she's having none of it, waving one of those overly-long sleeves at me.

"You summoned the devil here!" she shrieks. "It was only when you mentioned that key that he appeared. You and the fiery witch are agents of the foul one!"

"I think she's lost it," Eizou comments.

"Eiko, he's only trying to help," Haruki says.

"Why should I trust you?" Eiko asks rather pointedly, waggling the sleeves in his direction. "Why should I trust _any_ of you?" With that, she runs away, and Ryusuke starts to give chase but is stopped by Alicia.

"Leave her be," she says. Monokuma's got his claws dug deep into our collective consciousness, burrowing into our brains and letting the uncertainties ferment and fester until it explodes and blossoms into pure, unfiltered despair. This can't be allowed to happen.

"Guys, we can't just abandon this now!" I declare. "We've held it together pretty well up until now, and more than ever we need to show Monokuma we're not about to give in! Zygoth, gimme that pen!" Startled slightly, the conspiracy theorist hands over the blue pen and I scribble the name 'Eiko' on a piece of paper. I stuff it into the ballot box and hope everyone else catches on to what I'm trying to do.

"The first vote has been cast," Haru says. "Shinji, I can see what you're doing here, but it might not be wise. I spent my life trying to bring hope to others and look where it got me. You don't want to end up dead, do you?"

"Stop bein' such a killjoy, Wheels," hisses Zange.

"Shinji's plannin' something," Eizou says, thinking and putting on that menacing face again.

"Want me to open the box and check his ballot?" Nanima asks.

"No need," Haruki says warmly, stepping up and indicating for me to hand him the pen. As he writes on the ballot, I watch his hand, and it appears he's caught onto my little plan. If everyone cooperates, then we're going to show Eiko that she doesn't have to worry about any of us. We're all behind her. Slowly, the pen is passed around like a baton and everyone fills out a ballot. I'm not certain if everyone has voted for the same person, but I'm counting on the majority knowing the right thing to do…

**A.N.: Back from a great weekend with friends. We went to a concert and played poker til 3am. Hopefully I can use the positivity of this weekend to power through another chapter or two while I've got the house to myself for a few days. And I promise the killing will start soon. Very soon...**


	11. Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark III

**Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark… III**

As it turns out, having one grand unifying vision isn't quite enough. At no point when we were filling out the ballots did anyone think about how we're supposed to actually convince Eiko to come out of her room so we can show her the result. I don't think there's anybody she'll listen to now.

"I guess this meeting is adjourned," Haruki declares. "Good luck, Shinji. I hope we're able to pull this off." On that signal, people start filing out of the cafeteria and going their separate ways. Hikari tugs on my forearm, saying something about a possum, but I brush her off as I notice that Nanima's not moving. She's sat completely still, face completely rigid, with her headphones over her ears, and from her nostril a trickle of blood is dripping down her face. I grab a couple of napkins and offer her one, but there's no response. I don't really feel comfortable wiping blood off a girl's face, but I suspect Hikari has no such qualms.

"Hikari, do me a favour and clean her up," I order, and while she's engrossed in that particular activity, I try to think how to proceed. Last time out, removing the headphones worked to get her attention, so once Hikari's cleared off, I cautiously reach for the white headphones.

"**Don't!**" she screams suddenly, causing me to stumble backwards and lose my footing. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that violent a reaction. Even Hikari looks a bit worried.

"What's going on, Nanima?" I ask.

"Don't touch the headphones!" she cries, clutching at her ears tightly so there's no chance of anyone being able to touch them.

"Those must be some awesome tunes!" Hikari declares, displaying excellent intuition skills. That's _definitely_ going to come in handy later. I try to check if the headphones are plugged into anything, but they're wireless. This goes deeper than I initially thought.

"Nanima, what's going on?" I repeat, hoping to get through to her this time. As a fan, and as a fellow student, I'm deeply concerned by this sudden turn of events. We all need to pull through this together so I'm not leaving her side until I gain some understanding of the situation. I've never seen this side of her before. This must be why she always tries to appear so cheerful and full of life in her videos, because deep down something's seriously wrong.

"I need the headphones," she says quietly. "I need them… to shut out the voices." Voices? What voices? I don't hear anything, and I'm pretty sure if Hikari had heard anything she'd be commenting on it very loudly.

"What voices, Nanima?"

"Th-the ones I hear all the time," she says quickly, as though delivering an urgent message. "They tell me horrible things, say really nasty stuff, and the headphones are the only way I can stop them. That's not weird, is it? Please don't tell me I'm weird." She starts crying uncontrollably, and I send Hikari away to fetch more napkins. I knew there were some nutty things going on in this place, but the last thing I expected was voices inside Nanima's head. Is she really telling the truth? After a sleepless night it's hard to tell, but I doubt she'd have a reason to lie to me. I'm just going to have to trust her on this.

First things first, I need to try and calm her down. The longer she stays in this state the worse it's gonna get. I need to act quickly, say something, anything to stop the torment. I fear to get too close to her in case she lashes out at me.

"Listen to me, Nanima," I say slowly, enunciating clearly to try and ensure she'll hang onto my every word. "You're not weird. Whatever it is you think you're hearing, it's not real. The voices can't hurt you. They don't have control over you. You, and me, and Eiko, and everyone else, we're all gonna get through this. We're gonna work together, we're gonna stop Monokuma, and we're going to escape. You understand me, Nanima?" She nods slowly, tears dripping down her soft cheeks. It's heartbreaking to see one of the few people I've met in this world who's wholeheartedly good go through this trauma. She's brought so much joy to so many others, and yet none of them know of the horrible turmoil she's privately going through. It must be so painful having to keep quiet about that and try to push it aside for the sake of others. From now on, I hope she realises she doesn't have to suffer alone.

"Here you go, Shinji!" Hikari says, still full of whimsy and total obliviousness to the situation we find ourselves in. I take the handful of napkins from her and offer one to Nanima, who accepts it silently, wiping her face and smudging her make-up in the process.

"Don't ever think for a second you're alone," I tell her. Almost involuntarily, I take her hand in mine and look her directly in the eyes. "Remember, I'm always awake, so if you ever have any problems, you come to me, alright? And seems like Hikari likes you, too, so she'll probably try and cheer you up if needs be." I've dealt with people with problems like this before, but that was over the internet. This feels totally different, a lot more personal. It's not easy to describe how it feels, but it's definitely a much more intense type of connection.

"Guys, is it alright if I burn this box?" Hikari asks, bringing me totally out of the moment before I've had time to fully process the connection between me and Nanima. Hikari already has a lit match in her grasp, indicating her willingness to torch everything we've worked so hard to achieve this morning.

"Ask Dulce if she's got more paper if you want something to burn," I snap. I've got serious issues to discuss here. Besides, I think it's time to let the Hispanic do some babysitting for a change. Hikari scampers off like a cartoon character, singing and clapping all the while, still holding the match. I pull up a chair next to Nanima with the intent of guiding her through this troubling time. After a few minutes of allowing her to regain her composure, she's very keen to put that episode behind us and talk about games instead. I think it's a relief for her to have a fan around who's actually got some interest in what she does so she can continue making people smile. I simply let her speak for a while, occasionally replying when she brings something up from her streams, and this seems to cheer her up.

"I really hope we get out of here soon so I can keep doing what I enjoy," she confesses. "Who knows, maybe I'll invite you onto my stream one day?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice," I reply, although having never done anything like that before I can't say how good I'd be as a guest. Would I ever be able to provide meaningful commentary on the madness happening on screen? Probably not, but it's the thought that counts.

"So, uh, what are we supposed to do with the box?" she asks.

"To be honest, I didn't really think that through," I admit. "Shall we go and find the others? They might be able to help us out."

"Sure thing," says Nanima. "But first, I need you to promise me something. Nobody ever finds out about what just happened, okay? How can I keep making people smile if I can't keep smiling myself?"

"I promise, but I can't guarantee Hikari's silence," I say. That's the best I can do for now. Nanima picks up the box, putting her ear to it in case Monokuma placed a bomb inside it. Once she's satisfied that our ballots won't get blown up, we leave the cafeteria behind and I pull out the e-Handbook. The first icon I'm drawn to when I load up the map is Rin, hidden down the corridor between our dorms. How much does she know about what just transpired? She doesn't seem the sharing type, but I'd rather she hadn't known anything at all.

"Wait here," I tell Nanima, rushing off down the corridor to catch Rin. It doesn't take me long to block the librarian's path as she takes things rather leisurely.

"Why, if it isn't the Ultimate Counsellor," she says sardonically.

"Dammit Rin, how much of that did you overhear?" I ask.

"Oh, only about a hundred percent of it," she replies. Why can't she go and follow somebody else for once?

"You'd better keep it in your little black book, or there'll be hell to pay," I warn.

"Really now? We've been so good to each other so far. Why would I want to do anything to break that bond?" Because you could potentially use that information later on? No idea what for, but I suspect she's not just writing this all down for her own amusement.

"Where are you off to now?" I ask, seeing as she already went right past her own dorm.

"To the reception to spy on people," she replies. "There isn't much else to do in here, after all." Yeah, this place is boring as hell right now. If we could access the upstairs facilities then maybe we'd have something to do, but right now, we're stuck with a bunch of clinical tools.

"Lemme get Nanima and we'll come along," I say, although Rin's not looking too pleased about that. She brings out the notepad with a flourish and with her black ball-point starts writing upon its pages. I leave her to her note-making and return to the cafeteria. Nanima's completely absorbed in her handheld gaming thing, and she's sat on the box for maximum comfort. I glance at the screen over her shoulder and she's playing something that looks cartoony, yet extremely unsettling at the same time. There's a ton of bullets flying across the screen and I can hardly make out what's what. While waiting for the madness to end, I check the map again and notice that among the crowd in the reception is Daisuke. How very unlike him to be willingly mingling with his peers.

"Oh, Shinji, when did you get back?" Nanima asks, having wrapped up her current session of wanton virtual destruction.

"A good ten minutes ago at least," I reply. "Seems like people are meeting up in reception. You coming?"

"Sure," she says, much happier than before. She puts her handheld away before picking the box up in both hands once more, carrying it along with us, but as we start heading to the reception, a commotion breaks out in the corridor. Figuring out why Daisuke seems to be entertaining guests can wait. Nanima trails along behind me as I rush onto the scene, and I find all four of our electoral candidates arguing about something.

"I'm not responsible for any of this! I swear it on the Green Ram's curly horns!"

"It couldn't possibly have been me, I was doing my archery practice," Alicia insists. She's in the same sports gear as yesterday so maybe she's got a point. Or perhaps she's hiding something. Great, now I've got as paranoid as everyone else. Fuck you, Monokuma.

"What the hell did we walk into?" I ask.

"Look at these!" Zygoth orders, shoving several scruffy bits of paper into my hand, and I notice he's covering his pocket with his other hand. I don't remember who had his pen last, but clearly they forgot to give it back. I glance at the paper, and it looks to be a series of letters. As I read on, they prove to have been written with a rather malicious intent.

"To whom it may concern,

Tonight, the winner of this vote will die.

Don't try to stop me, or I'll kill you too." Shit! Someone's seen through my plan, and I've got no idea who it could be. I've definitely got an alibi, as does Nanima, so that rules us two out. Nayumi's probably asleep so I'd personally strike her off the list, but that does little to narrow it down to anyone in particular.

"What do we do?" Eiko asks frantically.

"We do what needs to be done," says Haruki. "Where the heck's Ryusuke when you need him?" As though summoned by the gods themselves, the Ultimate Bodyguard makes a timely entrance from his room.

"That sure was an intense workout," he announces to nobody in particular before noticing everybody gathered outside. "Right, what's going on here, then?"

"Somebody's making death threats," Haruki says. "Show him, Shinji." As instructed, I give Ryusuke the notes and he reads them with a frown.

"This is simply not acceptable! We can't allow this to happen! I propose we enforce a curfew immediately! Nobody is allowed out of their rooms until the culprit comes forward!"

"Dude, you can't just do that!" Alicia complains. "You're just a man with no power. You can't tell me or anybody else what to do!" If that's the case, we're just going to end up going round in circles forever. I'm extremely wary of doing the big reveal, as that gives the killer one single target to attack, but on the other hand, we can concentrate all our efforts on ensuring Eiko's safety.

"You're not going to listen to him, but I know someone you _would _listen to_,_" I say. "Nanima, bring me the box." Silently, Nanima hands over the black box and I tear off the lid.

"Huh? What's he doing?" asks Eiko, the only one who wasn't there when we initially did the vote. I begin reading out the votes slowly, drawing out the tension. None of the ballots are actually marked so I don't know whose vote is whose, but I do my best to figure it out. As I reach the seventh vote in a row for the Ultimate Cult Leader, the reception crew join us and the corridor suddenly feels very crowded. Akira leads the pack with a newspaper tucked under his arm. Where the hell did he get that from?

"Yo, where've you been? The guy with the glasses found this creepy-looking newspaper out here on the table and well, we all kinda started gathering round. Seems like the bear dug up some juicy info on all our candidates. Did you know the girl in green's a murderer?" Does he know that she can hear him right now?

"Akira, let me see that newspaper," I command. He throws me the newspaper, on the front page of which is Monokuma, and today's big headline is 'Election Exposed!' Somehow I don't think this is a legitimate source of information. "You're really going to believe Monokuma?"

"But it's in the papers!" Akira says, clearly flustered. "I knew something was off about that girl! Seriously, nobody normal goes around wearing all green! I keep getting tempted to throw golf balls at her!" _That's _your issue here? You're going to pick apart her fashion sense now? And still while she's stood right here?

"Don't mock the colours of the Green Ram!" Eiko screams. "I didn't do _anything_ and all you people do is pick on me for my beliefs. None of you are fit to join my flock!" None of us really wanted to anyway. If she keeps playing the victim all the time, it's not long until she becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm gonna have to just cut to the chase here.

"Eiko, look at these ballots," I urge, showing her the contents of the box. "We all voted for you. You call the shots. What do you wanna do next?"

"Follow the curfew," she says. "It's safer that way. Ryusuke and Eizou, you two can do rotating shifts to make sure nobody leaves their dorms! Shinji, you keep that fiery witch of yours with you at all times!"

"What about food?" Zange asks. "Y'all can't starve us."

"One of us can bring some to you at the end of a shift," Ryusuke answers. "I agree, keeping nourished is extremely important. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go and help Haru bathe. Eizou, you take this shift."

"Everyone else, to your dorms!" Eiko orders. "Glory to the Green Ram, may he protect us all!" For the next minute or so there's a concerto of slamming doors as people return to their rooms, while I make my way to Dulce's dorm to tell her the news. I rap on the door with my knuckles and I hear some exasperated Spanish before a worn-out Dulce opens the door.

"You're here for Hikari, right?" Yup, that's me. I glance into the room and Hikari's on the floor surrounded by smouldering bits of paper. Wherever did that basket from yesterday go?

"Hikari! We're under curfew!" I call. This really is like being a parent. Bizarrely this statement elicits a squeal of delight from Hikari as she bounces to her feet and comes rushing out through the doorway like a whirling dervish, sliding past Dulce and sweeping me up in another of those forceful hugs.

"We had so much fun, Shinji," Hikari babbles, before trying to tell me all about how she burned up one of Dulce's priceless maps.

"Thanks for having her, Dulce," I say weakly as the last of the air begins to leave my lungs. I thump Hikari on the back and she finally lets go. Sometimes getting physical is the only way to communicate.

"_No problemo, _Shinji! See you guys around." She closes the door and our curfew officially begins as Ryusuke sees fit to escort us both back to my dorm before going off to give Haru a bath. Now I have a chance to see what Monokuma's written. I'm able to bribe Hikari into staying quiet for a short while by promising she can burn the newspaper up once I'm done with it. I flip it open to the middle, figuring that's where Monokuma would hide his supplement, and indeed, in the very middle of the newspaper is a segment entitled 'The Big Election Special!', with an image of Monokuma giving a speech to a crowd of thousands of people, all wearing Monokuma heads. And there I was thinking he didn't know how to use Photoshop.

I turn the page, anticipating the 'juicy info' Akira tipped me off about, and right there on the left is a picture of Eiko that looks eerily similar to the one on the previous page. She's addressing a large crowd of people in green, some of whom are wearing horned masks. Honestly, this just looks like another bad Photoshop job, so I'm having my doubts about all this already. The hyperbolic titles sure don't help.

'Don't Be a Sheep: The Truth Behind Eiko Uno.' That's almost clever. Almost. I start scanning the page in front of me, looking for the fabled murder gossip, and on the third paragraph, after some details on how the cult got started, I discover 'the startling truth' of how Eiko supposedly murdered her own parents. I read it aloud for Hikari's benefit.

"Aged just thirteen years old, the Green Ram's messenger had her first vision, an apparition of the Woolly One telling her that her parents were demons incarnate, and that they would have to be burned to purge their souls. With these words in mind, she stole a box of matches from the kitchen drawer and set the place ablaze. Miraculously, she survived the inferno, but her parents died, just as she intended…" If that's so, why was Eiko so scared when Hikari brought that flaming wastepaper basket into the cafeteria? Guilt, perhaps?

"Eiko's a murderer?" Hikari asks, and she looks almost horrified. I think. You never can tell with Hikari. "…That's totally awesome!" If it involves fire, then she's pretty much on board with it.

"No she isn't," I say, wondering how everyone around me can be so gullible. "Monokuma's just making stuff up."

"So does that mean there's no killing game?" Hikari asks, almost sounding disappointed.

"Sadly I think that's the one thing he's not lying about," I reply, scanning the next page, a very similar article on Haruki's alleged collaboration with a highly dangerous criminal on one of his albums. Even the accompanying photo looks near enough the same as the one in Eiko's exposé, with the same high-angled crowd shot, just with different lighting, less ram heads and the singer working the microphone instead of the zealot. Yeah, I think I'm done with this. I bet Daisuke had fun deconstructing those articles.

"Here you go," I say, dropping the newspaper in front of Hikari and nodding toward the bin in the corner. "Stick it in there, I'm not sweeping up bits of burnt newspaper." Once again I find myself confined to one small space with the girl who plays with fire. It would have been nice if Nanima had joined us here, but she must have chosen to continue her game in peace. At least people like her have stuff to do. I didn't even get a bookshelf or anything. As Hikari starts singing an old Russian folk song while burning the newspaper, I suddenly start dreading escaping this place. There's no way she'll ever let me leave her behind.

After what feels like an eternity of Hikari-sitting duty, there's a heavy knock on the door. Who could that be? I crack open the door slightly and see Eizou standing in the doorway with a tray of food balanced on one hand. For some reason, the imagery of someone with such a large frame just carrying a tray is slightly comical.

"Ah, it's you. Come on in, Eizou." I usher the sentry in and he places the tray on my bedside table, moving the unused lamp to the floor.

"Hope I brought enough," he says. It sure looks it to me; he's piled so much on it I'm surprised he didn't drop anything. It doesn't even end there as he reaches into those deep pockets of his and pulls out two bottles of water.

"Yeah, we should be fine," I let him know. Hikari takes a bento box and a can of cola off the tray and begins to tuck in. I take a bowl of miso and some chopsticks. Guess I kinda reversed the order of my meals today, but hey, that's insomnia for you. Traditional measures of time don't mean a thing.

"Hey, Eizou, do you think Eiko really burned her parents to death?" Hikari asks, and Eizou spits out a mouthful of water in shock.

"Sorry, just didn't expect you to put it so bluntly," Eizou says, wiping his mouth. "Personally I dunno what to think." Hikari's already gobbled up her bento and moved onto a bag of sweets.

"I wouldn't believe anything that bear says," I opine, picking away at my meal. "Don't you have other people to get food to?"

"Ryusuke's got that covered… I think…" All of a sudden the Ultimate Mariner looks unsure of himself. Most of the time he exudes casualness and calmness, but not now. "I better go check on that." He runs off into the corridor, and I pick away at my rapidly cooling miso soup. I'm not particularly hungry right now with all that's happening, but I need some sustenance. Meanwhile, Hikari's dumped the bag of sweets into the bin and is conducting her own little experiment, watching them burn in all sorts of weird colours due to the dodgy chemicals they put in them.

"_Shiny happy people, holding hands!" _ she begins to sing before Eizou almost smashes the door off its hinges.

"Bad news! And I mean _really_ bad news! Eiko's gone! I checked my e-handbook and there's no sign of her _anywhere!_" No sign of her? That sounds bad. Really bad. This is a complete fucking disaster. Where the hell could she possibly be?

"Did you try her room?" I ask, in case he's missed something incredibly obvious in his search.

"Of course I did!" Eizou replies frantically. "She wasn't there! Come on! We've gotta find her before…"

"Attention, everyone! A body has been discovered! The investigation to find the blackened will now begin!"

"...FUCK!" I've not seen Eizou get this worked up before. My stomach sinks, and I feel that very same dread I had when I first heard about the killing game. As horrific as the prospect is, I'm going to have to confirm with my own two eyes what's just happened, and more importantly, who was killed.

"Hikari, drop the matches, we're going to see a dead body!" I yell. She lets out a whoop of delight completely inappropriate for the situation and runs ahead of us all. I hang back, wishing to delay the inevitable just slightly, and check the e-handbook to see where the body is likely to be. A large crowd has gathered at the consultation office. How the fuck did she get there without being spotted? I take the shortest route around, cutting through the waiting room and the reception, swinging up from the left and hitting the crowd almost head-on. There's a distinctive smell of bodily fluids in the area, bile and blood mingling in the air to create a foul and powerful stench that lingers in the nostrils.

"Let me through," I order, squeezing past Haruki and Akira, and there, face down in the middle of a puddle of blood in the centre of the room, lies the lifeless body of Eiko Uno, the Ultimate Cult Leader. Our peaceful life in this hospital has ended, and now we have to confront the fact that one of us is responsible for her death…

**A.N. And thus begins Deadly Life! Sorry ninjedi, but I had this one planned out for quite some time. Sucks to have to kill anyone off, but someone had to go first. I'm equally sad for the person whose character carried out the deed too, although they won't find out who they are for a few more chapters yet. **

**Originally this was going to be two chapters, but I realised pretty quickly that I just didn't have enough material to stretch it over two, and when I tried to add more it was messing with the chronology, so I had to go back to the drawing board and restructure things so it'd fit into one neat chapter. Also means less time waiting around for the fun to happen! **


	12. Chapter 1: Deadly Life

**Chapter 1: Deadly Life**

"Why?" Nanima asks, her voice hoarse and almost emotionless. "Why would anyone do this?" That's a very good question. What could drive one of us to so barbarically murder our elected leader? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

"Awww," Hikari whines like a lost puppy. "I was just starting to like her." I wonder why that might be? Couldn't possibly be related to the article about burning her parents, could it?

"I warned you all of this," Haru says. "Didn't I tell you that becoming a leader would be a death sentence?" Oh, shit. I'm responsible for this, aren't I? Even knowing that someone was plotting to kill our leader, no matter who that was, I revealed the results of the vote publicly, solidifying that target in the assailant's mind. If I'm responsible for Eiko's death, then I'm gonna have to make amends and try to work out who killed her.

"I should have been able to prevent this," laments Ryusuke, holding back tears. He may be trying to look strong, but right now it's obvious that he's taking this as a personal blow to his ability to perform his duties. "I promised myself that I wouldn't let anyone die, but I failed in my duties."

"Me too, man," Eizou says. "We should've checked on her _before_ sorting out everyone else's rations." Considering these two were the best possible sentries we had, everyone kind of fucked up here.

"Feeling sorry for yourselves will bring you no closer to finding the blackened," Daisuke advises. "Yes, your collective complacency and idiocy may have ultimately led to Miss Uno's demise, but the priority now should be on ensuring your own survival. I shall certainly be doing so, but not for _her _sake." The disgusted expression on his face says it all. Not only have we made him gaze upon a horrific crime scene, the victim in question may as well have been livestock to him.

"He's right," says Nayumi. Just as she was after Monokuma left us in the reception, all traces of tiredness have evaporated from the Ultimate Sleeper. "We need to focus on the crime scene and find out who did it…"

"Did someone say _crime?_" Oh, great, he's here. Monokuma pops out of one of the cupboards, knocking over various pill bottles as he leaps to the ground in front of us.

"You took your time," I say as he does a perfect somersault and manages to stick the landing.

"Well, all that despair was getting' me all hot and bothered, so I had to take a cold shower! Anyway, congratulations to you all for finally getting things started! Why, I believe you guys kicked off the killing game in record time! Not even 48 hours in and we already have a body on our hands! Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma's zaniness is annoying at the best of times, but when he's making light of someone literally being murdered, it's easy to want to violate the rules and rip the stuffing out of him. I can't let myself die prematurely, though.

"That poor girl's dead!" Alicia yells, aware that she had a large part in allowing these events to unfold by advocating Eiko in the first place.

"Why, yes, she is. No pulse, no breathing, no brain activity whatsoever. Sounds pretty dead to me, fellas! I suppose it's time I filled you guys in on exactly what happens next! Puhuhu!" If I had my way, 'what happens next' would be me wringing your neck, Monokuma.

"We have to work out who the killer is, correct?"

"That's one element of it," says Monokuma. "Oh, but we've got to make things _fun_! Kids these days, they're not willing to do anything unless it's got flying laser spikes involved… or something. We don't have any of those, but what we _do _have is something I like to call 'The Monokuma File!' Check it out, you guys!" On cue, the e-handbooks ping, and immediately upon checking it the device boots up a new screen, entitled 'Truth Bullets'. Right now there's only one option available for me to look at, entitled 'Monokuma File 01'. Calling it '01' is a bit of a misnomer, since it's impossible for the files to go into the double digits if we're going to have one per case, assuming we had one killer and one victim every time. Never mind that, let's see what Monokuma's written.

'Eiko Uno was killed at around 4pm. Cause of death: blood loss from a large abdominal wound, and there is evidence of the victim also being asphyxiated due to bruising of the neck and a crushed trachea.' Whoever did this is a sick fuck who _really_ wanted her dead. Nice to know we've been harbouring someone like that all this time.

"Isn't that just the coolest thing ever?" Monokuma asks rhetorically. "I get the feeling you guys might wanna keep an eye on that page."

"What happens after we're done investigating?" asks Dulce.

"Ah, that's where things get _really_ fun! Once time's up, you'll be escorted to the Class Trial room! There, you'll all have to decide among yourselves who the blackened is! Puhuhuhu! Oh, I just can't wait! All my stitching might just burst open with excitement!" Monokuma makes another dramatic exit, vanishing before our very eyes in a manner none of us are able to explain. It's like he just phased through the floor.

"Alright, guess we'd better get on with it," I say.

"Man, where do we even start?" Eizou asks, sticking a finger in his ear.

"Checking the body would be a good place to start," Nayumi says confidently.

"I guess being a bodyguard, it would be my duty to guard the body," Ryusuke says, wading into the pool of blood and getting it all over the bottom of his boots.

"I don't want to look," Nanima wails, turning away from the body and covering her eyes as Ryusuke slips a hand beneath the corpse. He grunts as he begins to turn the body over and several students, male and female alike, shriek when it's revealed that Eiko wasn't just cut, she was near enough eviscerated. The cult leader's intestines spill out slightly despite Ryusuke's best efforts to turn her over quickly, adding to the overall air of disgust and making me nauseous. I'm glad I didn't eat much or else it'd probably be coming straight back up.

"Wonder how that'd taste?" asks Hikari as Ryusuke bundles Eiko's guts back inside the gaping wound. I don't think I'd want to eat Eiko for fear of catching whatever affliction caused her to think wearing all green was a sensible idea.

"That's so wrong," Akira says, covering his mouth with his hand and gagging. Ever the pragmatist, Ryusuke snatches the white sheet off the bed to wipe the blood and viscera off his hands while Akira runs off, presumably to the bathroom. I don't blame him really. A lot of the others are looking rather queasy too, although with Haru looking pallid as ever I can't tell if he's affected by all this or just being his normal self. After some time examining the body, Ryusuke starts checking her pockets, finding the key to her room and a piece of paper so soaked in blood that there's no way to tell what may have been written on it.

"Someone should take these," he says. "They might turn out to be important to the case." There's an odd tone, and the e-handbook has added another option to the Truth Bullets, entitled 'Eiko's Body'. I bet it's gonna do that every single time we find something relevant to the case, and it'll be really annoying really quickly. A bit like Hikari, if I'm honest. Everyone's keeping away from Ryusuke as though he were a leper, not wishing to contaminate themselves with the bodily fluids of Eiko. Guess there's only one thing for it.

"I'll take them," I say, tiptoeing around the blood until I'm just in reach of Ryusuke's outstretched hand. He drops the items into my palm and I have a good look at this new evidence. Not a lot the paper can do to help us, but gaining access to her room may give us something.

"There appears to be a tear on the inside of her sleeve," Ryusuke says. "I don't know if that's recent or not, but I thought I'd better mention it just in case." A ripped sleeve? That could be a result of a struggle or something. Not sure quite how relevant that piece of information is, but as Ryusuke says, best to try and remember it. I turn to move away from the body and almost bump into Nayumi, who's methodically checking through the tray of medical instruments. It doesn't take long for her to find something that really doesn't look like it belongs. Mixed in very conspicuously with the other tools is a bloody scalpel, its blade red with Eiko's blood. That must be how they cut her open.

"Looks like we found the murder weapon," Nayumi says. After examining it carefully, she places it back where it was, not wishing to disturb the crime scene too much. She doesn't seem afraid to get stuck in as she gets down on her hands and knees, searching the floor for anything that might provide us with some clues. I sure wouldn't be getting down so close to all that blood, but that's just me. Well, me and pretty much every other student. While she's rummaging around looking for particles, which seems a bit pointless given our lack of access to a forensics lab, I squeeze past her and Ryusuke, unfortunately treading in some blood on my way, to figure out who I should assign Eiko's room key to. Actually, before that there's one more thing I need to ask Ryusuke.

"Hey, Ryusuke, did you see Eiko before she was killed?"

"What do you mean, Shinji, sir?" he enquires, not saluting due to his hands still being grimy and stinking of guts. Perhaps he's finally learning.

"I mean what I said," I reply. "When was the last time you saw her before she died?"

"Just before my last shift, I suppose," he says. "She said…" He turns away from me, blinking tears out of his eyes. "She said 'I don't need you to protect me. The Green Ram does that for me.' She had more faith in her false god than she ever did in me."

"So, that would've been about… two hours ago?" I guess, having not really kept track of the timeframe properly. My lack of sleep's starting to catch up with me now.

"That would put it at around 1400 hours, sir," Ryusuke affirms, and that gives us another Truth Bullet. Nothing so far's really leading us towards anyone in particular, though. I'll have to see what happens later on. Eizou's acting awfully erratic, checking all the cupboards and knocking on all the walls. What could he be up to?

"Oi, Eizou, what's the big deal?"

"I'm checking to see if there's any way our killer could have escaped the room without detection," he says. "Y'know, like how Monokuma did. Not having much luck, though."

"When was the last time you saw Eiko alive?" I ask.

"Shit, I dunno, man," he says, screwing up his face. "Uhhh… woulda been just after I did my first shift. I let her have some serpentine as a gift. After that, I didn't check back until it was too late…" Well, that's useful to know. Now who should I hand the key to? Definitely not Hikari, that's for sure. It should probably be Alicia, actually. However, people have started filtering out of the consultation room and I can't see her anywhere. Before I leave, Nayumi approaches me holding a thin piece of fabric between her fingers. It's a deep red colour, possibly from contact with Eiko's blood.

"Do you know where this could have come from?" she asks. "If we can identify the source, we may be able to identify the killer." I can't think of anything it'd match off the top of my head, but at least someone's trying. If there's anyone trying to cover something up… Hold it!

"I think I might know," I say. Zygoth and his pocket! As insane as that sounds, he might be able to help with this case. I exit the consultation room still with Eiko's room key in my grasp and find Zygoth outside the room, drawing a line of chalk outside the room. He's got Hikari lighting several small candles and placing them at intervals along the corridor.

"Don't scuff the chalk!" Zygoth exclaims as I leave a trail of blood in his perfectly-drawn line. Whatever magic he was trying to perform probably won't be very effective now.

"Sorry. Have you got any theories regarding the case?" Let's ease him in gently before we go in heavy. It'll be interesting to hear what he's got to say on the matter seeing how Eiko was his main rival in terms of sheer craziness.

"My current belief is that this room contains a malevolent spirit that must be isolated through the old mystic rituals," Zygoth answers sincerely. Riiiiiiiight. Evil spirit killed Eiko, gotcha. I'll be sure to let the others know immediately.

"So you reckon the spirit killed her?" I ask.

"Don't be ridiculous," Zygoth says. "Spirits such as this require a host! The spirit could not have acted alone. But who knows, maybe it had some role in the events that unfolded within that room?" He's convinced there's some paranormal foul play involved in this case. That must be the only way he can rationalise such a senseless loss of life. I don't want to believe that someone in here killed Eiko either, but there's not really much choice but to accept it. The other alternative is that Monokuma's rigged his own little game to inflict maximum despair on us all and laugh in our faces when we draw a blank.

"You sure all this stuff's gonna work? I mean, you lost one of your pens…" Aghast, Zygoth clutches his pocket as though he's going into cardiac arrest, his shameful secret exposed.

"How do you know about that? You're not the trickster who made off with it, are you?"

"I passed it on to Haruki, remember? And then it went around the table until… I dunno who had it last."

"I thought I'd accounted for that one, but I may be mistaken," Zygoth informs me. "Nonetheless, this morning I had six pens upon my person, and by the time I returned to my room, I realised I had only five. Where could that other one have got to?" So the pen Zygoth's lost might not be the same one from the cafeteria? When else could it have gone missing, though? And more importantly, who could have taken it?

"Maybe the _evil spirit_ stole it!" Hikari suggests, causing Zygoth to turn his head quickly and glare at her. He neglects to cover his pocket, and there are indeed only five pens in his breast pocket. That bit of fabric isn't the pocket itself, though, so that's become a bit of a dead end.

"As I already said, that's impossible, as spirits are unable to take corporeal form by themselves and thus cannot interact with tangible objects," he says knowledgably.

"Really? But what about that movie where the girl gets sucked into the TV? That can totally happen, right?" If it's the one I'm thinking of, that was clearly fictional. In my analytical investigative mood, I pick up on the fact that Hikari's got a piece of red string wrapped around her little finger, which appears to be cutting off the circulation quite severely. For once it's me touching her as I attempt to pull the fibre off.

"Hikari, where did you find this?" I ask.

"It was in that room where we found the body," she replies, cheerful as ever. "Our super-cool friend over there told me it's good for keeping evil spirits away so I wrapped it round my pinkie nice and tight!" Yeah, so tight it's a wonder the whole damn joint didn't just fall off. If this came from the consultation room, it has to be counted as evidence, so I confiscate the string to ensure it doesn't get lost.

I quickly make my way out of the area before I scuff up the chalk any further, following the rather macabre arrangement of candles up the corridor towards the storeroom. In the storeroom itself, I encounter Haru, Haruki and Daisuke all trying to look busy. The former hero's not really able to do much, but he's discussing something with Daisuke.

"Dude, that fucking wound required surgical precision. No way could you do that while she's alive."

"The Monokuma file clearly states that Eiko's cause of death was blood loss," Daisuke counters. "Plus, she may already have fallen unconscious due to the tracheobronchial injury limiting her supply of oxygen. Asphyxiation and haemorrhaging combined brought her to her demise, and that's final." Don't really see why you'd be arguing the cause of death when it was clearly stated, but I guess these two are pretty wound up right now.

"Yo, Shinj, over here," Haruki calls. I go over and he hands me a broken scalpel, its blade completely snapped off leaving nothing but the handle. I thought we'd already found the murder weapon?

"Huh?" is the only response I'm able to muster.

"I dunno what happened to it either, but it was in here. Just thought I'd let ya know." He slips those shades of his onto his face, perhaps trying to invoke the crime scene investigating mood, but it doesn't quite work. "I found something else that might be of interest too." At his feet is a roll of gauze bandage with a seriously frayed end. I pick it up and give it a quick look over. Who here needs bandages? Is this roll of bandages linked to how the scalpel got here? I feel there may be more to this case than we thought.

"You seen Alicia?" I enquire. I need to know if there's anything in Eiko's room that links to this case.

"Uh, think she went back to the dorms to look for clues. Why?"

"Just asking," I say coolly. Bingo. That makes things quite a bit easier. I take the trip back to the dorms, where I find not only Alicia hanging around the corridor, but Dulce scrabbling around in her room with her door propped open by a large box of what looks like scrolls. My Spanish is a bit rusty, but I can clearly make out a few curse words from her annoyed grunts.

_"Lo que le sucedió a ese puto papel?" _I'm gonna hazard a guess and assume this means that someone's been in her room and stolen some of her supplies. Or maybe she's just misplaced them and forgotten? Either way, she's pissed and I should probably keep out of her way.

"Alicia, just the person I was looking for," I say, ignoring the Ultimate Cartographer's plight in favour of cracking the mystery of Eiko's room alongside her advocate.

"What's wrong? Don't feel you can enter a woman's room alone?" she asks in a rather emasculating fashion.

"We need to know if anything important is in there. I can't do everything myself."

"Well, y'all don't have to worry about that," Zange says. Where the hell did she come from? I'm glad to see her, but also fairly confused. This must be how she's so successful at burgling, being able to sneak around without detection.

"I guess I'll come along too," says Rin. Okay, it's reasonable for her to just appear out of nowhere. Expected, even.

"If you want a lock pickin', all ya have to do is ask," Zange declares as she pulls a bent hairpin out of her pocket. Why the hell did I not consider that before? Eiko died for nothing! And whoever the killer is… we can deal with that once we're out of here.

"We've got a key for this room. Go and pick Hikari's lock." I hand the key to Alicia and off slinks Zange to try and open Hikari's door.

"It'd be a tad disrespectful for a man to go looking through a dead woman's belongings, wouldn't it?" Alicia asks with a smirk. "Let _me _handle it, bro. I'm not scared." Well neither am I, but if you're gonna go and do the investigating for me, then that saves us all some time. While Alicia's pottering about in Eiko's room, I use the time constructively and start asking Rin what she knows.

"Anything interesting in that little black book of yours?"

"Why, I thought you'd never ask," replies Rin, flipping the book open. She shows me the pages, but it's all utterly incomprehensible, written almost entirely in shorthand so it's impossible for me to make anything of it.

"You might be able to understand what all this means, but I don't," I tell Rin.

"Well, that's the point," she says, making clear her justifications for condensing every piece of information to shorthand. "I'll tell you what you need to know if you answer me one little question. Is it true what Alicia says about you and Hikari?" Great, that little vicious rumour's still making the rounds.

"What about me and Hikari?" I ask, playing along even though I know _exactly_ what she's talking about.

"Oh, you know. I _know _you know. You can't hide anything from me, Shinji. It's common knowledge you two shared a room last night."

"Look, nothing happened, okay? We stayed up all night playing gin rummy and that's all there is to it." Gah, why does this persistent rumour keep following me everywhere? Sharing a room does _not_ automatically mean sex will happen. When will these people grow up and understand that?

"Do I sense embarrassment?" Rin flips to another page and starts making more notes, presumably on a page dedicated to my supposed sexual escapades. I don't even want to know the details of what people think we get up to.

"You got what you wanted, Rin, now it's my turn. What can you tell me about this case?"

"I was the one who triggered the Body Discovery Announcement. I got bored and decided to break the curfew, and who did I encounter? Daisuke Kobayashi, presumably with the same intent. I followed him for a while, and then he noticed the door to the consultation room had been left open. That was when we found Eiko, lying dead on the floor, and the announcement rang out across the hospital." Now that is definitely strange. What was Daisuke up to? And wasn't there some sort of rule regarding that announcement? I attempt to check, but my e-handbook's stuck in Truth Bullets, bizarrely updated with the newest option 'Rin's Account,' which covers everything she just told me. Big Brother is always watching us.

"Yeowch!" A startling scream of pain causes me to turn my head, and I spot Zange backed up against the wall door opposite Hikari's unoccupied dorm room. I go to make sure she's okay and help her to her feet.

"What the hell happened there?" I ask.

"The locks can't be picked," Zange says weakly. "I tried everythin' and I just couldn't get it to work, then outta nowhere I got an electric shock!" Monokuma really did prepare for every eventuality. There goes any chance of us escaping through that method.

"You tried, that's the main thing." How sappy did that sound? Very. Alicia's been in that room a while and I'm growing impatient, so I break my own self-imposed rule and join her, backed up by the other two girls. The place is a mess, full of old candles, brochures and jackets, all of which are as green as the deity Eiko worshipped. The most notable thing is that the bedside table has been converted into a shrine, with the lampshade being replaced with a crystal ram skull that refracts light and gives the room an eerie green glow. The candles burn brightly beside it, and on a tiny pedestal rests the chunk of serpentine that Eizou gave her as a gift.

"Yikes, this place is givin' me the creeps," Zange says, refusing to go any further than the doorway. We sift through the room, looking for anything that might pertain to the case, but nothing shows up until Alicia flips over a pillow and finds a page.

"Aha! This might be what we need to hit the bullseye with this case!" she announces. I ask to see the note for the sake of comparison, a request which she very begrudgingly complies with. Perhaps Eiko's death marks a turning point in our relationship. Not likely, but hey, who knows? I start reading the page and this turns out to be worth all the trouble.

"Dear Eiko

Meet me at the consultation room at 4pm sharp. There are urgent matters that need to be discussed.

Yours,

H." This handwriting is the exact same as all the other letters, so we can probably say that the killer wrote both sets. I guess Eiko didn't pick up on that. The strangest element by far is the use of a single H as a signature, a swirled H at that. There's several people whose names would start with an H in English, and I don't want the killer to be any of them. Unfortunately, I may have to accept that someone I thought of as a friend, a confidant or a hero could really be a cold and ruthless killer. As I put the letter down on the shrine of the serpentine, the bells ring out and Monokuma delivers another announcement.

"Attention everyone! Stop your investigations at once! The class trial is about to begin! Please proceed to the emergency waiting room for further instructions!" Well, this is it. Time to find out who killed Eiko Uno.

**A.N.: Surprise! Got this one done a lot quicker than anticipated so might as well chuck it up now. Again, a bit of a longer chapter because trying to stretch it out over multiple chapters just wouldn't have worked. Next up, of course, comes the trial. I'd be interested to see who our main suspects are now that we've got all our evidence gathered. All will be revealed soon, my readers. Soon...**


	13. Chapter 1: Class Trial I

Chapter 1: Class Trial I

A few minutes have passed since the announcement and everyone is gathered in the emergency ward's waiting room. Well, everyone except Akira who I'm assuming is still throwing up. In spite of the short amount of time we've been gathered here, the wait seems almost eternal, ratcheting up the sense of anxiety within the room. I suspect this delay has been, in part, orchestrated by Monokuma himself. He's probably in that bathroom right now regaling poor Akira with the story of the murder of Junko Furata or the heinous crimes of Futoshi Matsunaga in some ironic kind of retribution for his long-winded golf anecdotes.

"Man, what a drag," says Eizou impatiently.

"Complaining won't cause time to go any faster," Daisuke snaps.

"Yeah, I know, but…"

"Cease your answer at once! Your existence is meaningless! Why, sometimes I think you merely exist to make up the numbers…"

"Sorry I held you guys up so long!" On the subject of people Daisuke almost definitely disapproves of, Akira jogs up the corridor towards us. He looks absolutely awful, his skin all milky-white and the front of his shirt covered in blotches. Clearly he didn't make it to the bowl in time.

"Now that we're all gathered here, perhaps we'll finally get somewhere," Alicia says.

"Where's my favourite teddy bear?" asks Hikari, looking around furtively. Those words seem to summon the deplorable Monokuma, who swings down from the ceiling suspended on a wire, wielding a golden key to unlock the giant padlock. That door was once used as an emergency exit, but as the lock pops open and the chains fall away, the view we're granted is not one of the outside world, but the interior of a lift. The message here seems to be 'there's no escape from Mr Monokuma's wild ride.'

"There, I solved that mystery for you," Monokuma declares. "Now, everyone please enter the elevator. Keep your arms and legs away from the sides when the elevator is in motion. I'll see you on the flip side!" The wire retreats back up into the ceiling and the temporary gap closes. That'll be why there was no gun here when there's one in reception, watching and waiting for someone to bolt for the exit and blow them away. Anybody going for the emergency exit would just be heading straight to Monokuma. We all pile into the lift, and with Haru's wheelchair accounted for, there's just enough room to fit the fifteen of us in. As soon as we're all in, the protective metal doors slam shut and we begin the long, slow descent to our class trial.

The ride down is near enough totally silent. Nobody really quite knows what to say or how to act. Even Hikari's quiet for once. If I'm anything to go by, everyone's been swamped with the feeling of uneasiness and dread, being completely unable to guess what awaits us when those doors open once more. All any of us want right now is to be free of this place, free of all this unpleasantness, the despair-inducing bear and his fucked-up way of running things, but every time there's a glimmer of light, it gets closed off. The absolute worst part is that there's no sign of this ending any time soon.

We're pretty much going into this class trial process blind. The only thing Monokuma has told us is that we're to present our evidence and work out who killed Eiko. May the Green Ram, Marduk and any other deities watching over us right now guide us to the right answer. Grant us the wisdom of the Mesopotamians so that we may overcome the hardships we are about to experience. We're only gonna get one shot at this. If we fuck this up, we die. It's not just my own life on the line, it's everyone's. We've all got to work together to unmask that killer.

The lift eventually, finally, stops, and opens up in a room primarily coloured a deep crimson, as though we've been transported right to the bowels of Hell. Not enough fire and brimstone to actually _be_ the underworld, though. In the centre of this dark red hall is a circle of podiums, sixteen in number, all identical save one that's slightly shorter than the others. One of the podiums has a tall stand holding a framed portrait photo of Eiko in it, but her face has been daubed with an X as red as the blood surrounding her body. If I had to guess, this circle is where our class trial will be taking place, and each of us has been assigned a specific place in the circle.

"Whaddaya think, kids? Isn't this a cool setup?" As inevitably as the sun rising in the morning, Monokuma makes his appearance.

"It looks awfully secular if you ask me," Zygoth replies. "This isn't some scheme to awaken a demon from beyond our dimension, is it?"

"Of course not! This is the class trial room. I made all this just for you! Sure, the local council weren't too happy about me making room for this baby without proper planning permission, but I was able to sweet-talk 'em into backing down in the end. Aren't you all so glad I did?" No, we aren't. Someone had to die for us to even see this room.

"Can we just get on with it already?" Zange asks.

"Why, of course! Find your places, children! Then we can begin the class trial!" Monokuma waddles away and leaps up onto a gilded throne opposite the circle and one arm opens up to reveal a bell which he hits with a tiny mallet. "Court is now in session!"

"But we haven't even got to the plinths yet," Eizou complains. There's an easy remedy for that, my tanned friend. I take the first step towards the podiums, searching for the one that has my name on it. Just my luck, I end up next to the dead person and her advocate once more.

"You'd better figure out who did this, or I'll hold you accountable until my dying breath," Alicia hisses at me as she takes her place at the podium. I look down at the surface in front of me and built into the podium is some kind of screen, with what I have to assume is a touch-screen interface. At the moment all it's doing is showing a panning shot of the courtroom, but later on it'll probably do something of use to us.

"Now then, let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial," Monokuma says from his lofty position. "During the class trial, you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly then only the blackened will receive punishment, but if you pick the wrong person… I'll punish everyone _besides _the blackened, and that person earns the right to leave this hospital. Good luck!" So, this is it. Monokuma's now leaving us to figure out who was behind the brutal murder of Eiko Uno. However, before we begin, there's one question that needs to be asked.

"Is the killer really one of us? You're not just setting this up so you can just wipe us all out, are you?" I ask. It's difficult not to be sceptical of a talking bear, especially one so sadistic and completely unhinged.

"Absolutely not! The blackened is definitely lurking among you students! Hurry up and find out who it is! Puhuhuhu!" Well then, guess that answers that. We're just gonna have to take him at his word and play along. Grin and _bear_ it, as Monokuma might put it.

"Alright then. Where should we all start?" This might be kind of an obvious question, but nonetheless, it needs to be established to stop the trial from descending into chaos.

"I suppose the logical place to begin is by looking at the evidence we've been given," Nayumi suggests. "Looking at _how_ Eiko was killed might give us some clues." That's quite an interesting angle, and a logically sound one at that. Different people are capable of different things. Now the touch screen's fired up, delivering a clear message. 'Present your argument!'

"We know for definite that the killer strangled Eiko and sliced her open," Ryusuke says. He should know, he was the one shoving his hands right into her abdomen like in one of John Carpenter's finest features. Makes you wonder just how much experience he has with cadavers.

"So, someone brought Eiko to the consultation room, where they strangled and gutted her," Rin begins. "But how did they manage that?"

"Manage what?" Eizou asks. "You're not being specific enough!"

"Oh, I know, I know!" Hikari says, waving her arms around. Brace yourselves, people, this is going to be a bumpy landing. "The killer was prepared, so they brought a knife with them. That way they could easily slice right through her!" There's no doubt someone brought a bladed object with them into that room, but it definitely wasn't a knife.

"Hikari, you're wrong!" I declare, slamming the podium for dramatic effect. Somehow I've brought up a menu on the touch screen that lists all the Truth Bullets I collected. I can easily disprove Hikari's statement by selecting the correct one. "Here, this'll show you all."

"Of course, the bloody scalpel," says Nayumi as the relevant piece of evidence is transferred to everyone's displays. For obvious safety reasons, we didn't bring that with us, but this option enables me to very quickly present a sound argument that closes down Hikari's angle.

"How do you know that's the weapon?" Alicia asks me directly. Come on now, do I _really_ have to explain this?

"Nayumi found it in the bedside tray, and it's covered in blood. Plus, nobody's found any knives anywhere during our investigation, which leads me to believe this is the weapon used to disembowel Eiko." Take that!

"Well, if Shinji says that's what happened, then it must be true," says Hikari. Good to know she has my back. Then again I could accuse someone right now and she'd still vote to condemn them.

"I was in the kitchen for ages. None of the knives were gone," Eizou assures everyone, giving me and Nayumi's claim more validity.

"Yeah, seems like a scalpel would fit the crime," Haru says. My word, he's actually contributing to the debate! A shocking turn of events! "A kitchen knife would be too crude to make that kind of incision. You'd need something precise like a scalpel to do that."

"So, we're all agreed Eiko was killed with a scalpel?" Nayumi asks. Nobody else seems to be raising any objections at this point, so we'll continue.

"Having examined the body personally, I'd say that's a reasonable assessment," agrees Ryusuke. Now we've got that out of the way, there's something else we need to address.

"Okay, so we have that out of the way."

"Hold on, we haven't addressed the most important thing here," Haruki says. "We haven't figured out why the body was in that room."

"That's a mighty fine point you're raisin' there, Mike," Zange concurs.

"Mike? That's not my name…"

"Sure it ain't, but it's what I call ya. Because you know how to work that mic like there's no tomorrow!" Zange's confounding nickname logic is bringing proceedings to a grinding halt. We need to get back on track. Or maybe I just don't want to be forever known as Zombie.

"I see. Makes sense now you've explained it. However, we've got a more important issue. Why did we find Eiko's body in the consultation room?"

"Come on now, that's easy!" Akira sticks a thumb to his chest, obviously feeling confident that the next string of sentences he spews out of his mouth will be correct. "The killer's messing with us all by having us find her body in that place. See, what they did was they went into her room, did the dirty deed in there and then hauled her all the way to that room!"

"Don't be so ridiculous," Daisuke says. "The way the blood was pooled clearly suggests the murder took place inside that very room! Once the heart stops, there's no pressure to push the blood out. Mere gravity couldn't create a pool like that all around her post-mortem!" I feel there's something a lot more obvious than that to disprove Akira's claim.

"Akira, you're wrong!" I announce. "I've got to side with Daisuke here. She wasn't killed in her room, and she definitely wasn't carried through the corridors."

"They could've just been… really sneaky…" Akira tries to fight back but he knows it's futile.

"Four of us went into that room, and there was no blood anywhere to be seen in that room, or for that matter in any of the corridors. Alicia, Zange, Rin, you can all back me up on that, right?"

"Absolutely," Rin says.

"Totally," Zange confirms.

"Regrettably," Alicia replies with gritted teeth.

"That settles that then," I say triumphantly. This class trial business is a doddle.

"No it doesn't!" Akira yells, swinging an imaginary golf club in my direction. "Why would the Green Weirdo be in that room to begin with?"

"You're going to have to present some evidence to convince him," Nayumi says. Luckily for me, I've got just the ticket. Or rather, letter. Right at the bottom of the list of Truth Bullets is the letter we found underneath the pillow with the swirly H on it.

"Just take a look at this letter," I say. "It clearly says 'meet me at the consultation room at 4pm sharp.' That matches up with both the location of Eiko's body and the time at which the Monokuma file says she was killed. Pretty convincing evidence, wouldn't you say?"

"I wish I hadn't found that," Alicia says. "It would've been so much more enjoyable watching you two fools wind each other up."

"Gah, I thought I had it there," Akira bemoans, gnashing his teeth. So I've managed to show that the murder definitely took place in the consultation room at around 4pm, but still, there's many unexplained mysteries here.

"Now, how did Eiko manage to break the curfew without being spotted?" I ask the circle. At least two people will know the answer to this.

"She was our leader, she could've done whatever she wanted," says Zygoth. "She was a dictator of the highest order! King Zaphod the Seven-Hundredth could not have hoped to wield such absolute power over his subjects!"

"The curfew wasn't her idea, it was Ryusuke's," Alicia points out. "And then, when she was confirmed as our leader... Shinji, you told her to give the order! It was _you_ all along! You killed Eiko!" She's screaming at me, leaning right over her podium with a wild look in her eyes. I didn't do anything of the sort, but Alicia doesn't know that. Somebody else certainly does, though.

"I never left my room once during that curfew. Hikari was with me the whole time, she can attest to that. This is just distracting us from the real question. How did Eiko and the killer get to the consultation room without being seen?" Let's see how everyone handles this one. Alicia backs off for the moment, her rational side winning out for the time being.

"They couldn't have just walked through the corridors," Nanima says blankly. She's not really had a lot to say since we found the body. "The consultation room's really far away from our dorms."

"It's not _that _far," Rin says.

"Still, they couldn't have got that far without being seen, right?"

"When everyone was stuck in their rooms, could there be a better time to strike?" asks Haruki.

"Yo, what if they didn't go through the corridors? Coulda tunnelled in or something," Dulce suggests.

"Tunnelled in? With what, a spoon?" asks Akira flippantly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Haruki says. "That would've left a huge hole behind."

"Well, how 'bout some kind of hidden passage or something?" Dulce asks, waving her cartography pencil around.

"Perhaps the residual chaos effect of the alignment of the many moons of Xandyth allowed them to go undetected? The universe itself willed this event to happen!" Zygoth's proclamations of doom might be amusing outside these circumstances, but there's not really room for that here. I'm actually fairly sure that Eiko and the killer did use the corridor, and someone can back it up.

"Nanima, you're wrong!" I announce. "Eizou, you said there were no other ways to access the consultation room beside the door, right?"

"Aye, I tested all the walls and cupboards and didn't find anything," he replies. "And because I was in the kitchen at the time the murder happened, I would've missed the whole thing! Man, do I feel bad about that…" His face goes from relaxed (or as relaxed as one can be in the middle of a heated trial) to a vicious scowl in an instant.

"You see? The killer had to have walked there through the corridor. And since Eizou was bringing me food when the body was found, and didn't know where Eiko was at the time, I think it's safe to assume he never saw her."

"Hold it right there, Zombie," Zange says. "Just because Rocky here didn't see anything, that ain't proof of nothin'." Have I got a rebuttal on my hands here?

"The hell's all this about, Zange?"

"You're forgettin' about someone else! Somebody who's loyal, who put his honour on the line to make sure this kinda thing would never happen. Ryusuke! Where were ya at 4pm, huh?" She's turned from trying to debunk my arguments to pressing the man himself.

"I would have just been starting my rounds at 1600 hours, ma'am," he says, saluting. It would seem he just can't stop himself.

"Fair enough, I s'pose," Zange says, dropping her rebuttal fairly quickly.

"I'm not satisfied," Alicia says, picking up from where the Burglar of Justice left off. "Ryusuke would surely have seen the assailant returning to their dormitory. Or are men these days just so blind they miss what's right in front of them if it doesn't have a pair of breasts attached to it?" Alicia's certainly passionate, and wants out perpetrator to be caught for obvious reasons, but I feel she's going out of her way to wildly accuse us males of being responsible. Besides, I feel like there's something we're all missing.

"What if… there's a way they could have left the crime scene, not gone past Ryusuke, and still be able to show up at the crime scene after the body was discovered?" Nayumi asks. That certainly seems like something that could be possible. We just need to work out how. Things are heating up…

"As I said, I was only just starting my shift at 1600 hours, and alas, I trusted everyone enough that I didn't think to check that side of the hospital," Ryusuke laments, clasping his little silver neck charm in his large fist.

"Why'd you only start then, man? Were you takin' a siesta or somethin'?" Dulce asks.

"I would never sleep on the job!" Ryusuke insists.

"Nor would I," Nayumi says. I have to give her credit; she's not fallen asleep once since Eiko died. Well, alright, maybe she took a nap in the lift, but I think she earned that one.

"So, the killer could easily have just hidden themselves somewhere," says Eizou. "There were a ton of cubby-holes and stuff in that room. If you removed all the medicines you could probably squeeze in there and pop out when the body got discovered."

"Do you actually have a brain, or is there just a massive chunk of rock inside that thick skull of yours?" Daisuke asks. "That wouldn't even be slightly inconspicuous, you dolt!"

"Hey, easy on the insults, man," Eizou says.

"If I feel the situation warrants it, I shan't hold back," says Daisuke in a derisory manner. Alas, I'm going to have to side with the critic once more.

"Eizou, you're wrong!" I declare, prodding the screen on my podium to bring proceedings to a halt. "I hate to agree with Daisuke once again, but he's definitely got a point. Not only that... I think I know where the culprit hid afterwards." There was a piece of evidence that we found indicating that the killer at the very least visited a different room on that wing. "Haruki, you _did_ find the bandages and broken scalpel in the storeroom, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," he confirms. He manipulates his own screen, and on my display appears his own version of that Truth Bullet. There we have it, some tangible proof of the storeroom being a possible hiding place. "See, I had this gut feeling the killer might've got some supplies out of there. I brought Daisuke along thinking his discerning personality and intelligence might come in handy."

"I had that place covered, thank you," Haru says. "Or I did until Daisuke insisted on being all high and mighty."

"Let's leave that for another time, eh?" Haruki intercedes, keeping the peace to allow him to finish his explanation of the evidence. "So, while those two were bickering, I spotted the scalpel sticking out from behind a cardboard box, and alongside it was the roll of bandages. Seems pretty suspicious, if you ask me."

"But what would the killer need bandages for?" Alicia asks. "Were they so incompetent they managed to cut _themselves_ while killing Eiko?"

"Shinji's line of reasoning is flawed, too," says Rin. "Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't really see the connection between the two items and the incident that unfolded. There was already a scalpel found at the crime scene. Perhaps you're suggesting the killer required two attempts?" Shit, my logic wasn't as sound as I thought. I put two and two together and it's become five. Or three. Either way, right now I'm gonna have to explain this away.

"Uhhh…" As I look around frantically, scrabbling for something while the others are all staring at me, I notice that once again, Nanima's nose is bleeding. And that prompts me to remember where I first found her when we were introduced…

**A.N.: And here we are at the most difficult part to write. Might take me some time to get into the swing of things, but hopefully I've done a decent job of it so far.**

**Life update: Still jobless, penniless, got a doctor's appointment and considering going back to university. **


	14. Chapter 1: Class Trial II

**Chapter 1: Class Trial II**

I'm hoping with every fibre of my being that I'm wrong about this. I just can't bring myself to accuse Nanima. No way can I believe that she could ever be responsible for something like this. Please don't tell me she listened to the voices…

"Shinji, stop staring into space and focus on the case!" Alicia reprimands me. She has an arm outstretched ready to slap me across the face if needed.

"Somethin' wrong, Zombie?" Zange asks. At least she seems to actually be concerned for my welfare. "You ain't lookin' so hot."

"I think I know a cure for that," Hikari says. Whatever she has in mind, there's a very real chance of me not being alive by the end of it. Everyone's voices seem to be echoing, gaining an ethereal quality. Nanima's right in my line of sight and all I can focus on is the trail of red running down her face, dripping onto her black hoodie as she stands there with all the stillness and rigidity of a statue. What's going on?

"He's bottled it," I hear Haru comment.

"Nanima…" I gasp at last. "You… you were in that storage room, weren't you?" She's still standing there staring straight ahead, and the trial's completely ground to a halt. Silence reigns over the courtroom and Monokuma is fidgeting on his golden throne, waiting for something despairing to happen. It's not long until he's satisfied.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Nanima screams, shielding her face with her hands. "You _have _to believe me! I swear I'm not the killer!"

"Nobody said you were," Haruki says calmly. "Shinji, what makes you think Nanima was in that storeroom? Seems like you're just pulling stuff out of thin air now." I don't want to have to divulge Nanima's secret to everyone, but if it comes down to it, I may be forced to. The voices may have regained their control.

"Puhuhu! Looks like the insomniac's addled by his lack of sleep! Didn't I tell ya not to let those bed-bugs bite?" Monokuma fails to remain an impartial party in the class trial with his irksome commentary. I don't even have any Truth Bullets that can allow me to pursue this angle, which is making me doubt myself.

"You all have to believe me," Nanima says hurriedly. "I'm definitely not the killer. I was never in that storeroom. I've got no idea what Shinji's talking about!" It's not easy, but I'm going to have to present my case.

"When we first met, it was in that very same storeroom, and you were acting awfully reclusive. You could've easily known about the supplies in there, how spacious it was, that nobody was likely to bother you in there. The perfect place to hide until the body was discovered." I'll admit, it's very shaky logic, but it's the best I've got.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she wails, my pragmatism causing more harm than good in this situation. She brings her hands away from her face and the backs of them are coated in blood. "How many times do I have to declare I'm innocent before you believe me?"

"As soon as I mentioned that storeroom, you completely froze like you did in the cafeteria. Plus, you're bleeding again..."

"Alright, I _was_ in there earlier, but only for a little while. Ryusuke took me there because I'd forgotten something in there yesterday, and he made sure I didn't take long." She scrolls down her screen delicately and dextrously, displaying her technological proficiency, and shares a Truth Bullet, a game cartridge for her device. How on Earth did that get left behind? "Now do you believe me?"

"Before anyone says anything, I was off duty, and this was long before the murder took place," says Ryusuke, running a finger along the silver chain around his neck. At her own podium, Rin stirs into action to castigate me.

"Do you not see how completely unreasonable you're being, Shinji? How can you so callously accuse someone who poured their heart out to you about their fragile mental state, _especially _after the promise you made?" Of course Rin would use that little black book of hers against me. Sadly, she's totally right to call me out this time. I've not contributed anything worthwhile to the courtroom proceedings with my accusation of Nanima, and now I'm drawing a blank.

"Enough," I say. "Okay, maybe that's not right after all. Eizou, can you confirm where Nanima was before the body was discovered?"

"She was next in line after you guys on the rations so I didn't get chance to drop in," Eizou replies. Fantastic timing there, champ.

"Allow me to present _my_ account," Rin says icily, tapping the screen with her fancy black pen. My screen is suddenly inundated with words, hundreds upon hundreds of them. "As you can clearly see, the body was discovered by me and Daisuke Kobayashi, which triggered Monokuma's announcement. Nanima was among the first to arrive upon the scene, and she was _not_ hiding in the storeroom."

"I can most definitely corroborate Ms. Hinamoto's account," Daisuke says, giving me a discerning look.

"So, just to be clear," Haruki says, attempting to recap, "the current theory is as follows: Eiko received a threatening letter from someone asking her to meet at the consultation room at 4pm. Eiko hid said letter, went to the room as agreed, and was strangled and cut up. Then, the killer went to the storeroom where they hid the broken scalpel and used bandages. Have I got that right?"

"That pretty much sums it up," I confirm.

"Cool. So, does anyone else have anything to contribute? This is a team effort, after all. Ryusuke, was there anything on Eiko that might give us some clues?"

"No calling cards or anything of that ilk, Haruki, sir!" Ryusuke announces. "The one thing I _did_ find on her was a piece of paper soaked in blood, which I believe is the one from the ballot." That's right, she never got to vote, and there were no slips left behind once we'd all voted, so it's entirely possible that she'd taken her ballot paper with her and simply forgotten about it, but still, I get the feeling we should be looking into it further.

"That reminds me of something we've not figured out yet. How did the killer get that note to Eiko when there was a curfew going on?" I ask.

"Nobody followed that curfew anyway," Daisuke says dismissively. "I was able to leave my room _several_ times without incident. None would dare tangle with the intellectual might of Daisuke Kobayashi!" If that's the case I'm going to hazard a guess and say Eizou was on duty all those times. No way would Ryusuke let him get away with that.

"I _thought _I'd heard something moving around those old corridors," Eizou says. "Phew, I thought I was going paranoid for a bit there!"

"Ugh, my face…" Nanima looks around, not knowing where to put her hands to avoid getting blood everywhere.

"Here, you can use this, I don't mind," Haruki says, offering her his scarf. It's red, so the bloodstains won't be too noticeable. Nanima takes it with gratitude, mopping up the blood with the woollen garment.

"Maybe they sent it via postal service," Akira suggests.

"Dude, that's not funny," Alicia says. "What an utterly ridiculous suggestion!"

"Well, maybe they handed it to one of the passing guards or something," Akira says, refusing to back down. "That reminds me of one time at one of my first tourneys, there was this one girl in the crowd I had the hots for…" Not another one of these bloody anecdotes. He's missing something completely obvious, so thankfully I can stop him in his tracks.

"Akira, you're wrong again!" I announce. I don't even really need to present any evidence for this one because we've already had it. "Eizou, Ryusuke, did either of you take any notes from anyone?"

"Nope," says Eizou.

"I personally did not," Ryusuke says. That was _too_ easy. Akira's becoming a bit of a liability in these trial situations with his consistently dumb theories. Then again, I suppose I didn't fare much better earlier, did I?

"Well, there you go. They must've delivered it themselves. There's not really any other possibility, is there?" This case is meandering along at a glacial pace. Someone needs to kick things into gear with a shocking revelation that will absolutely shake things up.

"Yo, guys, uh… maybe they sent it _before_ the curfew," Dulce suggests. Of all the people to come up with something, I certainly didn't think it'd be her. She's been pretty laid-back during this whole trial, letting everyone else do all the hard work until she just throws a curveball out there.

"Boy, this whole thing musta been totally pre-medicated," Zange says, slipping in a little malapropism while she's at it. I think she can be forgiven for that, given her background in criminal activity. In fact, she's probably the most eloquent burglar in the world.

"But who could've done that?" I ask. "From what I recall, me, Nanima and Hikari were in the cafeteria. Everyone else bar Rin and the candidates went to the reception."

"Whoever it was, they stole some of my paper," says Dulce.

"And the murdering scoundrel had the audacity to rob one of my pens!" Zygoth bellows in fury. "How _dare_ they disturb the equilibrium of the universe by stealing one of my carefully arranged pens!"

"Perhaps in future you should be more careful about who you lend them to," Alicia suggests. Come to think of it, there was a point in time where there was a perfect opportunity for someone to steal those supplies.

"I think I've got it," I say cautiously. "Zygoth, when was it you noticed that you were missing a pen?"

"Why, it would have been just after we finished up those ballots… no, wait! Now I distinctly recall what happened. When Monokuma vanished in a billowing puff of smoke, I felt something touch my pocket. It couldn't be…"

"No, it couldn't be!" Monokuma says, waggling his tiny gavel around. "I've already told you, the killer was one of you students! Honestly, kids these days, having such little faith in authority figures…" Like anybody would trust the words of a black and white bear who seems to get off on other people's suffering.

"I'd say you're on the right track looking for who stole those supplies," Nayumi says. "Whoever they were, they had a plan, and they used the distraction to their advantage to get what they needed to carry it out."

"I'm gonna bring up that note we found in Eiko's room again," I say, scrolling to the bottom and showing everyone the invitation to the consultation room for an appointment with Doctor Death.

"Whoever the killer was, they're an idiot," Daisuke says.

"Yeah, who the hell would sign it like that?" asks Dulce, resting her elbows on the podium and her head on her hands.

"Oh, I know, I know!" Hikari pipes up again, jumping up and down. "Someone whose name begins with H! I wonder who that could be…"

"Hikari, could it be _you, _by any chance?" Alicia enquires. "We all _know_ that you've got vested interest in both Shinji and Zygoth, so you could well have used that to your advantage. You were also in Dulce's room before the announcement of the curfew, so paper would have been in plentiful supply. Let's see what your precious boyfriend has to say about all this, shall we?"

"Alicia, you're wrong," I say to her face. Oh, how I relish that. "I'm _not _her boyfriend! Also, Hikari couldn't have killed Eiko, she stayed in my room the whole time."

"But can you _prove_ that? Do you have actual evidence to prove, beyond all reasonable doubt, that Hikari wasn't the killer?" I swallow, knowing I haven't got anything in my Truth Bullets that can definitely clear her.

"Hey, Pyro, what's that hangin' off your arm there?" asks Zange. I look to see what Zange's pointing at, and there's a white thread dangling past her left sleeve. A white thread that looks suspiciously like it came off the roll of gauze bandages. Have I already started succumbing to the hallucinations? No, that's not possible. It's not even been two days yet, I should be absolutely fine. Is there something about this oppressive hospital exacerbating my condition?

"Oh, this? It's nothing," Hikari says, shoving the thread up her sleeve.

"Hikari, you're gonna have to show us," I insist. I _have _to know she's innocent. "Nobody else here will believe you if you don't."

"Sure thing, Shinji!" she says, reaching down to remove her entire top.

"Just roll up the sleeve, for fuck's sake," I say quickly before she ends up exposing herself to the entire courtroom. Thankfully, there's another layer beneath the grey top, meaning there probably wouldn't have been much of an incident, but even so she relents to my demand and hikes up her sleeve to reveal a rather messy dressing that extends right the way up her arm. Through the gaps in the dressing I can see some nasty-looking burn scars. No wonder she's got those long sleeves; that burn looks seriously painful and hideous. Several people react with a gasp and Akira, who's to her left, recoils in horror.

"That happened a long time ago. I made a mistake and poof! My arm got really badly burned, but I never let that stop me becoming the Ultimate Pyrotechnician. Just like whatever happened to the killer didn't stop them! Just bandage it all up and away you go!" I think that's the most sense we're gonna get out of Hikari in this entire trial.

"If you think about it for more than one second, is Hikari really the type to meticulously plan a murder like that?" I ask the collective, but I'm hoping Alicia in particular is listening.

"Nope!" Hikari admits happily. "If it'd been me, I would've burned her to death, just like she did to her parents! A fitting punishment!" She takes far too much glee in fire and destruction, but her word should assure everyone that she is, indeed, not the one we're looking for. Besides, Hikari found something that could possibly incriminate somebody else whose name begins with H. I search for the relevant Truth Bullet in preparation. It's not something I particularly relish, but this time I might just be on the right track.

"Everyone, try to think who else's name begins with an H," I command as I deploy the Red String bullet.

"What's this got to do with anything?" Eizou asks. "It's just a bit of string."

"It's not just _any_ bit of string, though. Haruki, let's have a look at that scarf of yours." Nanima's still got the scarf tightly wound around one hand like a bandage, but she starts to unwind it slowly. Once it's been fully unwound, she holds it up for everyone to see. A small loose thread dangles limply from one side, almost mournfully so. One that looks to match the one I've got in my pocket.

"I've had this scarf for a long while," Haruki says. "That's just a bit of normal wear and tear, y'know." Unexpectedly, another Truth Bullet smashes its way onto everyone's monitors from Nayumi, showing us the red piece of fabric she found on the floor of the consultation room.

"This might also be from that scarf," she suggests. "Now, do you have an alibi for when Eiko was killed?"

"Totally. I was in my room, just like everyone else was." Evidence is mounting against the Ultimate Singer here and he knows it. Was I wrong to vouch for him as our potential leader?

"Is it not convenient that you knew to find those supplies in the storage room?" Zygoth asks. "Not only that, you knew _exactly_ where to look for them."

"Again, that's not proof of anything," replies Haruki.

"Perhaps not… but your neck and hands are permanently covered. Is something hiding beneath the gloves? Or maybe the headphones and high collar are meant to obscure something…"

"Zygoth, I think you might be onto something," I say. "Eiko was strangled, right? What if Haruki choked her out with the scarf? If he managed to break her trachea, then the force could've torn a bit of it off…"

"You're roaming off topic again," Alicia warns. Think I got a bit ahead of myself there, assuming Zygoth was going to bring the scarf back into it. Not good.

"There's an easy way to settle this," Rin says, pulling out the little black book, tearing out a blank page and offering it to Haruki along with her pen. Damn, if I hadn't eventually relented and let Hikari burn all the ballots, I could've checked to see if any of them matched the notes, but since nobody thought to provide a name on theirs it wouldn't have helped. Unless… no, that's ridiculous.

"Suppose there's no point me hiding it any longer," Haruki says, refusing Rin's offer. "I give up. Yeah, I was there. But before you all vote for me, I've got a bit of evidence of my own to submit." Instead of comparing his handwriting with the existing evidence, I'll have to take his word and trust this Truth Bullet, another note worded exactly the same as the one we found on Eiko's bed, except this one has no signature.

"Why the hell didn't you show us that earlier?" Akira asks. "Withholding evidence is a very serious crime!"

"I wasn't exactly gonna broadcast to the world I was there when the onus wasn't on me, was I?" Haruki retorts. "Honestly, I was waiting for you all to incriminate me first just to be able to show you this. Good job, everyone. And I mean that."

"When and where did you find that note?" I ask. Was it addressed to him specifically, or did he just pick it up off the floor?

"Found it in my pocket just after the curfew started," he replies, adjusting his gloves. "Someone must've slipped it in while I wasn't looking." The room becomes almost silent. Haruki's as good as admitted to the crime, and yet this case isn't over. We still have to work out who's behind those notes. We don't have time to make everyone write a sample piece or attempt to copy that H...

"Guys, guys, guys!" Hikari says frantically, puncturing the building tension. "What if… the evil spirit did it?" What the hell is she talking about? I might have to tell her to stop hanging out with Zygoth; I'm beginning to think he's a bad influence on her fragile suggestible mind. Amazingly, people seem to actually be contemplating this suggestion.

"Evil spirit, huh? That'd be a turn-up for the books," Eizou says, pulling that mad menacing thinking face again.

"I'm thinkin' Pyro might be smarter than she lets on," Zange says, smiling.

"I'm surrounded by superstitious fools," groans the ever-sceptical Daisuke, the kind of man who refuses to believe anything that doesn't have hundreds of research papers backing up its existence.

"Allow me to elaborate on Hikari's current theory," Zygoth starts. "Upon entering that consultation room, I felt an overwhelming dark presence within the room, emanating from its epicentre. It is my firm belief that this hospital lies in an area where the realms of man and spirit intertwine, a crossroads, if you will. I was able to deduce that the presence I was feeling was that of a vengeful spirit, and I am the only one of us here qualified to banish such a creature back to its realm of origin. I enlisted the help of Hikari, knowing her to be a most trustworthy ally." I swear I hear a snicker from somewhere, but Zygoth simply ignores it and continues.

"Indeed, I was correct, for her enthusiasm in lighting the black candles required to ward off such a spirit meant it could do harm no longer! Now, I must repeat what I told her: a dark spirit such as this one needs to possess a host in order to interact with the living world in any meaningful way. It shouldn't take too much of a leap of logic to figure this out." Alright then, I guess I have to think about this logically. Let's pretend that there are such things as evil spirits, and that there was one in that room. I encountered Zygoth just after I'd finished investigating inside that consultation room, and he was just finishing off the ritual. By that time, Haruki was back in the storage room with Daisuke and Haru. There's only one person that he could have been referring to as being possessed.

"Hold on… you've been suggesting Haruki acted in self-defence this whole time, haven't you?" Amazing. Hikari's ramblings have actually provided us with some very valuable insight into how this whole case went down.

"I knew it!" Akira announces. "Ever since I laid eyes on that weirdo I knew she was trouble."

"That's right," Zygoth says triumphantly. "The real mastermind behind Eiko's death… was Eiko Uno herself!"

**A.N.: Got this one out nice and quick. Next trial part hopefully won't be too far off either. **

**So, did Haruki really do it? Was it all an elaborate suicide plot? Or could someone else entirely be involved? Answers on a postcard. Or, y'know, in the review box. **


	15. Chapter 1: Class Trial III

**Chapter 1: Class Trial III**

After Zygoth's declaration of the truth behind the case, the room goes eerily quiet as everyone who hadn't already cottoned on tries to process the information they've just been presented with. It's pretty hard to believe someone who was so enthusiastic about not believing Monokuma's words would find themselves succumbing to his will, but something must have caused her to snap.

"Why is everyone so surprised?" asks Hikari. "She's a cult leader. Cults are always making human sacrifices and stuff! That's why people join 'em, right?" More likely they simply believed in her philosophy that a benevolent green sheep will lead the world to salvation rather than having a desire to murder, Hikari, but I'll give you points for trying.

"This is rather a lot to take in," Alicia says. Having been an advocate for Eiko for so long, standing by her in times of turmoil and controversy, it's no surprise she'd be taking the news that she'd been facilitating the actions of a ruthless killer pretty hard. "Can the court be adjourned for a short while?"

"No way!" Monokuma scoffs. "Things are just starting to get exciting!"

"Awww, man, I was hopin' I'd get time for a nap," Dulce bemoans.

"There'll be plenty of time for that when we're done," Ryusuke promises. "For now, concentrate on working out what Eiko's plan was." First things first, we need to know for sure that it was her that wrote those notes.

"For now, we should go back over the established timeline of events and see how Eiko slots in," I suggest.

"Are we to assume this sewer rat had been planning specifically to murder the singer all along?" Daisuke asks, stroking a hand through his obsidian hair.

"I think we have to," I reply. "Nobody else received a note like that, did they?" The collected students all deny ever receiving one worded in any way similarly to the private note given to Haruki. Being a good few inches taller than Eiko, he strikes me as an odd choice of victim. Perhaps she meant to kill Haru but got the two mixed up.

"So, if the threat to kill 'our leader' was discovered at around 10, then at some point between Monokuma's appearance in the cafeteria and then, Eiko must've sent all those out," Haruki says.

"We've established that my pen went missing when everything was obscured by smoke," Zygoth contributes, pointing at his designated pen pocket.

"Are you _sure_ you didn't just lend it to someone and forget to ask for it back?" asks Alicia.

"I would never knowingly let such a treasured possession of mine out of my sight for more than a moment," Zygoth says, rather annoyed at the suggestion he's responsible for losing it.

"Y'know, sometimes a moment's all ya need," says Zange, someone who'd know all about stealing other people's belongings.

"Can we be absolutely sure Eiko stole that pen?" Alicia asks. "I near enough turned that room upside-down and it never turned up."

"And it wasn't on her person, either," Ryusuke comments. "I looked everywhere I could and there was no trace of it." Did he, though? I get the feeling that it's possible he may have missed something, and as the only other person to have got close enough to the body to notice anything, I'm going to have to try and answer this. There's a Truth Bullet in here somewhere that'll do the trick.

"Ryusuke, you're strong! I mean, wrong…" After I recover from that little slip of the tongue, I broadcast the relevant Truth Bullet, the tear in Eiko's sleeve, to everyone. "Perhaps she could have hidden the pen inside her sleeve? You'd never think to check in there, would you?"

"Good observation, Shinji," Ryusuke says. "Perhaps I should have been more thorough." Of course, this is still only an assumption of mine, and nobody's going to be willing to go back to that room and retrieve the pen from her corpse, but I think it's a distinct possibility.

"What about the paper?" Nanima asks. I notice her headphones are no longer clamped round her ears, and the hood of her black hoodie is down. "You can't write letters with just a pen."

"That _puta poco _went in my room and stole my paper!" Dulce yells, jabbing the podium with her cartography pencil, crushing graphite into it. "A whole ream of it just went missing! No way that's not related to the crime."

"But how?" Zange asks. "Ya can't pick the locks in here. You musta left the door open or somethin', Adora."

"She must have left her door open like a primitive ape from the jungles of her origin," comments Daisuke, displaying an incredible amount of cultural ignorance. I don't even know where Dulce's actually from, but assuming she lives in the middle of a rainforest in a little wooden hut is a bit racist.

"What'choo say about my village, huh? Say that _mierda_ again, I dare ya!" Dulce shouts, her voice full of hostility. Daisuke does raise a rather valid point though. The only way that Eiko could have had access to Dulce's supplies is if she'd left the door open. Or is it?

"I said nothing about your village," Daisuke replies wearily.

"You called me an ape!"

"So what if I did? We all share a common ancestor that can be categorised as an ape. You simply share more traits with our ancient forebears than the rest of us in this room." I can't see this ending well for either party.

"Look, guys, we need to focus," Haruki says, once again trying to break up the derailing argument. "Dulce, do you know for certain that you didn't leave your door open this morning?"

"I mighta done," she admits. "I was in a hurry 'cos I overslept, and I knew you guys were relyin' on me for the ballots. So yeah, maybe I did now I think about it." Nice to know I left Hikari in such capable hands.

"And, of course, Eiko was the first of us to leave the cafeteria after that outburst," Zygoth says. "She could easily have gone in and stolen the paper while nobody else was watching."

"Hold it," Rin says. "Eiko's plan was dependent on those letters, and there was no way she could know that Dulce's door would be left open, if indeed it was. There must have been an easier and more reliable way for her to gain access to that paper." When else would there have been easy access to readily available paper?

"Rin's right," I say, agreeing with her reasoning that Dulce's room being left wide open was too much of a coincidence for a reliable plan. "Once again, remember Monokuma's disappearance. Nobody could see a thing, but if Eiko knew roughly where the paper was, she could have easily taken some of it and stuffed it up her sleeve along with the pen. That panic-stricken reaction could well have just served as a way to make an exit so she could lock herself in her room for a bit and prepare her letters announcing the threat on our leader's life, and then the one to Haruki later on."

"Speaking of coincidences, going by your logic, the curfew seems awfully convenient," Daisuke points out. "How would she have proceeded had she lost the ballot?"

"I think she'd figured out who the two most likely candidates to win the election were, with Alicia's heart not really being in it and her own natural leadership skills and Haruki's more sensible approach being favourable to the wildcard that is Zygoth. Using that information, Eiko was able to set up a scenario where either she won and, capitalising on the paranoia she'd manufactured, could impose a curfew that would make things much easier, or if Haruki won, it'd be more difficult to pull off, but ultimately the letter would be lived up to. That's my thinking, anyway." 30-odd hours of no sleep and I was able to pull that one out. Daisuke seems to accept my answer, choosing to stay silent and glance away.

"And there I was thinking there was just wool between her ears," Akira remarks. Sometimes he says things that sound ever-so-slightly profound, but I very much doubt he's doing it intentionally. Someone needs to jump in before he tells us about the time a sheep interrupted a game of golf.

"At the very least, she was able to think on the spot and come up with a way to make her plan work," I continue. "Being the leader of a cult with so many members, she'd need to be good at organising and even better at convincing people to do her bidding. She knew acting all upset was likely to tip the vote in her favour, which in turn made it more likely she'd be in a position of power."

"If her planning was so perfect, then how the hell did she wind up dead?" the pernickety golfer asks.

"Perhaps Eiko was caught off-guard," Alicia suggests. "She didn't expect her _male_ victim to fight back. Did she, Haruki?" She narrows her eyes as she direct this question at the Ultimate Singer, who upon being question removes his sunglasses and wipes them on the hem of his jacket before issuing a response.

"Well, it wasn't immediately obvious that she had a weapon on her because of those sleeves of hers," he says. "So yeah, maybe she did think I wouldn't put up a fight until it was too late. But… I had a suspicion that something like this was going to happen. I didn't want to believe it because she'd seemed nice enough before then, but when you've got a scalpel at your throat, what else can you do?" The pieces are all starting to fall into place nicely now.

"Hold it," Haru says. "If this was all so meticulously planned out, why would she leave a note in her room that suggests Haruki was the perpetrator when he was the intended victim? Or did she have something else up her sleeve?" The Ultimate Hero makes a valid point, while also giving me the answer right there. Except it's actually a little more obvious than that.

"Perhaps that scrap of paper hidden in her pocket wasn't just a leftover from the ballot after all," I say as I let loose the Truth Bullet. "Ryusuke found a piece of paper in Eiko's pocket, but it was pretty much covered in blood, so there's no telling what was on it. Perhaps _that_ was meant to be the note people found at the scene of the crime. If Haruki kept the note on him, then she could've just swapped it out and kept the original in her sleeve. No idea who she was planning to pin it on, but I think she was preparing for the worst with the 'H' note."

"Wait, so she _wanted_ to be killed?" Eizou asks.

"Not really..."

"As an effective leader, one must be prepared for every eventuality!" declares Zygoth. "Politics requires a large amount of forward planning, budgeting, contingency plans and other such things. Her contingency plan was to at the very least ensure that her killer would not escape justice!" But… did Haruki really do it? He offered himself up rather quickly when questioned. Plus, Monokuma's rules are fairly ambiguous and open to interpretation at times.

"Can we vote now?" Dulce asks impatiently. "I wanna go for my _siesta_ already."

"Not yet," I say. "Monokuma, rule six. 'The Body Discovery Announcement will ring out when three or more people discover a body for the first time.' Do we include the killer in those three?"

"Oh, we're back on speaking terms now, are we?" Monokuma teases. I still hate him with every fibre of my existence, but he's the only one who knows all the nuances of his sick little set of rules, and the only one who can advise us if the killer tried to exploit any loopholes. "Well, since you asked nicely, I'll answer. This rule can change depending on the case, but I can tell you that in this instance, the killer does _not_ count among the three people leading to the Body Discovery Announcement!" Bingo.

"So, if me and Daisuke were the second and third people to discover the body, that means somebody else found Eiko first," says Rin. Before we can vote for anyone, we need to be able to establish when someone else may have come across the body before Rin and Daisuke, but without being discovered.

"So, we can pretty much absolve Rin and Daisuke of all blame," I state. "I can assure you that me and Hikari followed the curfew the whole time. Eizou didn't appear to have any idea about Eiko's whereabouts. Speaking of, who else did you drop in on during that time?"

"Uh, lemme think…" Eizou does that weird grimace of his that he always does while thinking. Seriously, what is up with that? Does he have an aversion to thinking? "Akira, Nayumi, Dulce, Zange and Haru were all before you guys, and all of them were in their rooms, so unless they moved really quickly, I don't think any of them discovered the body first." You'd be surprised just how sneaky Zange can be, but I don't really see a reason to be suspicious of her. Guess that clears a few more people. We already _know_ that Haruki was on the scene. That leaves us with just three people that could've discovered the body.

"Zygoth, where were you when the body was discovered?" I ask.

"I was in my room reading a book on the dark arts, if you must know," he replies curtly. Two left.

"Don't you even _dare_ suggest I was involved with this horrible business," Alicia says before I even get a chance to enquire of her whereabouts. "It _had_ to have been one of the guys! It's far too brutal a death to be the work of a woman!" I suppose that leaves us with just one person. That person is someone incredibly loyal and trusting, who never fails to fulfil their duty. Someone that Haruki felt he could have confided in.

"Ryusuke… it was you, wasn't it?" I ask.

"What are you accusing me of, sir?" he asks in return. I didn't _accuse_ him of anything, but I think that reaction says it all.

"You… you were there, weren't you? You were there when Eiko attacked Haruki and you stopped her, because you're the Ultimate Bodyguard. You'd do anything to protect others, even if it meant killing the attacker in the process."

"Nonsense," says Ryusuke. "I would never take a life! I would only act to preserve the life of myself and others!"

"She attacked you with the intent to kill, so you crushed her throat and slit her open for good measure, possibly to hide your tracks or just to end the suffering quicker, I don't really know. I'm not the expert here. Haru, you know Ryusuke pretty well, what's your verdict?"

"Ryusuke, you remind me of myself back before the accident," he starts. "I used to be just like you. I believed in never allowing evil to win, and I always prevailed. The difference is… I never took a life. I knew that'd make me just the same as all the crooks I was stopping. Sounds like you went too far, and now Eiko's blood's on your hands. Literally, dude, you didn't do a very good job cleaning it off. You still smell like an abattoir."

"So, you don't think I did it?" asks Haruki, wringing his hands.

"Yeah, Shinji, you were all over that whole 'the scarf is the murder weapon' angle before," Akira says. "You know, that reminds me of when I used to wear scarves…"

"Shut up, Akira, you bumbling fool!" Daisuke yells. "The nature of the tracheobronchial injury sustained by Eiko matches more with Ryusuke's raw strength than it does with a case of strangulation with an object. Furthermore, Ryusuke, you were _very _insistent on being the one to examine the body." For once, he doesn't ridicule me for being wrong, simply being content to try and save his own skin.

"Well, I'm a bodyguard. That's literally what I do," Ryusuke says in his defence. That's when I remember something Eizou told me shortly before the body was discovered.

"Bad news! And I mean really bad news! Eiko's gone! I checked my e-handbook and there's no sign of her anywhere!"

"Did you try her room?" I asked.

"Ryusuke did," came Eizou's reply. "She wasn't there! Come on! We've gotta find her before…"

"Attention, everyone! A body has been discovered! The investigation to find the blackened will now begin!" The Body Discovery Announcement followed.

"Eizou, you took Ryusuke at his word," I say.

"Well, yeah, of course I did. Why would he lie?"

"He didn't lie to you. But I think he may have lied before." As much as I don't want to have to do this, I really can't see there being any other way this played out.

"What did I lie about?" Ryusuke asks.

"Earlier, you said you didn't check that side of the hospital during your rounds. Can it be said, with absolute certainty, that you didn't, at any point after 4pm, check that side of the building?" If he's got any involvement in the case, he'll crack soon enough. He's far too honest for his own good.

"Why are you interrogating me in this manner? I already told you…" He trails off mid-sentence and starts fiddling with the chain around his neck once again. It's not like him to be nervous.

"Look at his leg!" Hikari exclaims, pointing to Ryusuke's right thigh. I'm not sure what she's seeing to be honest.

"What about his leg?" Haru, the expert on all things leg-related, asks. I do hope that's not a trigger word for him.

"I think I see what Hikari's looking at," says Nanima. "It seems to have slightly more bulk to it than the other, as though something were underneath it." Something underneath the leg? That's it! That's what the stuff in the storeroom was about! Once more, I use that Truth Bullet, hoping this time I'm right in my line of thought.

"Aha! So _that's_ where you got stabbed with the scalpel!" I declare. "You couldn't exactly go walking around with a scalpel sticking out of your leg, but at the same time, pulling the whole thing out might've been a bad idea, so you compromised and snapped it off at the blade before wrapping it up and going on your way." Finally got some payoff for that.

"I... you can't… you weren't there!" Ryusuke shouts. I think we've got the poor guy on the ropes now. This isn't gonna be fun for any of us, because he's probably the least deserving of punishment out of all of us, but rules are rules.

"This case is over," says Nayumi before promptly falling asleep at her podium.

"Well, we've got someone here who can tell us what happened. Haruki, you've got to be honest with us. What really happened in the consultation room?" If the Ultimate Singer is willing to cooperate, as he should be, then this should probably serve as a closing argument.

"Alright, so we'll start from the beginning of the case, just to be sure we all know what happened," Haruki announced before clearing his throat. "This morning, we were due to vote on the issue of leadership, having previously failed to come to an agreement on the issue. To resolve this, Dulce offered to lend us some of her paper, Nanima provided us with a box, and Zygoth had plenty of pens to go round. However, Eiko Uno, the Ultimate Cult leader and one of the potential candidates for election, had an idea. While everyone else was concerned with the ballot, the main thought on her mind was murder…"

"MURDER!" screams Hikari. Nobody pays her much mind as they're too busy listening to Haruki.

"As he always does in these types of situations, Monokuma appeared, before vanishing in a puff of smoke, which allowed Eiko to gather the supplies that she needed to make her plan work, namely a pen from Zygoth's pocket and some sheets of paper. At this point, in order to distract from the missing items, she had a fit of hysterics, which resulted in her running away from the cafeteria, leaving us in a situation where we felt we simply _had_ to vote for her. While everyone else was still in the cafeteria, she began to write various letters, four threatening to kill the leader, one to invite me to the consultation room, another identically worded letter signed with an 'H', and possibly a final letter to incriminate someone else in the event everything went according to plan. We don't really know about that last one though.

"A couple of hours later, she set her plan in motion by posting the letters out, then alerting everyone to their presence, a set-up designed to bring about a curfew so her plan wouldn't be discovered. As she anticipated, Shinji had subtly instructed us all to vote for Eiko, and as such we played into her hands. Shortly after the curfew started, I found myself feeling rather uneasy, and upon checking my pocket, found an invitation to the consultation written in the exact same handwriting as the one before. I alerted the only person I knew I could trust to this, knowing that they would never allow a killer to run amok in this hospital, and they agreed, when the time came, to come with me to the consultation room.

"At 4pm, when the shifts were due to change, I made my way to the consultation room, with my companion following behind, ready to back me up if I needed it. Eiko was waiting for me, hiding a scalpel beneath one of her sleeves, and went for me as soon as I tried to get too close. Chaos ensued, and while we were tangled together, the scalpel snagged on my scarf, ripping some of it off. I tried to fight back, but it was a struggle, so I called for my backup. As they tried to restrain the wild cult leader, she stabbed them with the scalpel in the right thigh, which caused them to apply almost fatal pressure to the throat. Knowing she was about to die, Eiko produced a second scalpel she'd been keeping up her sleeve, but the killer was able to notice and react in time.

"With careful precision, the killer was able to split Eiko from sternum to pelvis, resulting in quite a grisly death by all accounts. Of course, the longer they hung around the area, the more likely it was we'd be discovered, so the two of us made our retreat to the storeroom, where I helped apply bandages to the wounded area and hid them along with the scalpel behind a box. The two of us made our way back to the other side without being spotted, but shortly afterwards, Rin and Daisuke, circling in the opposite direction, triggered the Body Discovery Announcement. And that's how we ended up where we are now.

"Of course, the killer had to be someone brave, strong, with a sense of justice. Someone who could crush a girl's throat without even thinking about it. And of course, a guy who didn't mind getting his hands dirty when it came down to examining the body. That's right, boys and girls, the killer is the one and only… Ryusuke Takeyama!" Wow. That was quite the closing statement. Giving so many stage performances in his life was probably quite good preparation for that. I feel like I should clap, but at the same time, I'd be applauding a killer and that just feels a bit weird. On that subject, the culprit hangs his head in shame, knowing that the truth's finally come out.

"I'm so sorry, Eiko, but it had to be done," he says quietly, fondling the silver dagger's chain like a set of prayer beads. "I hope you understand… I hope all of you understand, too, why I had to do it."

"Don't worry, we do," Haruki says, leaving his podium to cross the room and pat Ryusuke on the shoulder. "I, for one, am extremely grateful. I would've been a goner if it wasn't for you, man. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Alrighty then, looks like this case is ooooooooover!" Monokuma announces. "Please return to your podiums, for the vote is about to commence! If the majority vote correctly, then the blackened will be punished, but if you vote wrong, then _everyone else_ gets punished instead!" The display on our touch screens changes to a live video feed, which eventually zooms in on me. There's a box around my head, with two arrows leading left and right and my name beneath it. Above my head is a simple order. 'Vote for the killer!' I tap the arrows, scrolling right, and while it's tempting to vote for Alicia, we've got to make sure we vote for the right guy. With his head stooped low and a hand wiping away the tears, Ryusuke looks a shadow of his former self, all his courage gone, knowing that he's about to face Monokuma's cruel punishment. As the box hovers over his head, I steel myself, close my eyes, and vote.

**A.N.: Once again, commiserations to KomoriRin. Ryusuke was the last character I received, and one that, unfortunately, I had lined up as Eiko's killer very early on. I hope I've done him justice, and that I can give him a good sendoff in the next chapter. On the bright side, that means Chapter 2 will start soon :D**

**(Also sorry the formatting screwed up earlier, that happens sometimes...)**


	16. Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark End

**Chapter 1: For The Night is Dark… End**

"Congratulations, students, you all guessed correctly!" Monokuma announces as our displays change to a slot machine, but instead of the usual symbols, the reels have our faces on them. One by one, they line up with Ryusuke's distinctive visage, and as the third reel stops, a fanfare rings out and the screens glow simultaneously with multi-coloured lights. We may have found the killer, but there's no feeling of triumph in this case. "The killer was indeed none other than the Ultimate Bodyguard, Ryusuke Takeyama!"

"We did it, guys!" Hikari cheers, but nobody joins her in her jubilation.

"Our vote has condemned the most honourable, noble and chivalrous of us," Zygoth says with a tinge of sadness to his voice.

"I have done what was necessary for me to survive," Daisuke says. "That was my only motive. Malice isn't worth wasting on someone of such low status."

"Hey, you take that back!" Zange snaps. This entire case has been full of conflict. First, I tried to accuse Nanima, then Haruki made himself seem like the most obvious candidate before finally it came to light that poor Ryusuke was forced to kill Eiko before she killed him. Even now, many of us are unwilling to accept the result in spite of the evidence.

"Why ever should I? The man's a killer and a lowborn. I have no sympathy for him." Daisuke's still living up to his reputation as a grade-A douchebag. I'm sure when the day comes for him to face the firing squad, he'll see no sympathy from any of us.

"Ryusuke, you were the only man out of this rowdy lot I had any respect for," Alicia says. "Why did it have to be _you_?"

"Because it was my duty," Ryusuke cries, before attempting to steel himself for the horrors that await him. "There was always going to be a death, no matter what. Haruki asked for my protection, and I couldn't say no, could I? I'm the Ultimate Bodyguard, that's what I do for a living!"

"In doing that, you saved my life," says Haruki, pressing that particular point home one more time.

"Maybe it would've been better if you'd died," Alicia growls. Now that's just cold.

"Hey, don't you think you're being just a little _too _harsh there?" I ask.

"Considering his actions are sending Ryusuke to his death, I think my reaction's perfectly reasonable," replies Alicia. Girl's got a heart of pure stone.

"I think it'd help if you guys actually saw how it all played out," says Haruki. "Or at least, the build-up. Monokuma, you've got footage of that, right?"

"Why, of course!" Monokuma affirms, producing a remote control. He pushes a button and behind him, a giant screen emerges from the wall. He pushes another button, and the relevant footage begins to play, starting with Eiko waiting in the consultation room for Haruki's arrival. We all leave the circle of podiums in order to get a closer look, right as the Ultimate Singer walks through the door of the consultation room.

* * *

><p>"So, you finally arrived," says Eiko, sounding distinctly different to her usual pepped-up evangelical self. If words could affect their environment, there'd be icicles forming on those cupboards, such is the coldness of her tone.<p>

"What's all this about, Eiko?" asks the Ultimate Singer. "Why did you bring me here? Why me, specifically?" Eiko is very careful to ensure those long sleeves of hers don't slip, holding her arms rigidly by her sides.

"Because you're the only one… the only one who I can tell my great secret to." It's weird watching over the footage and knowing what's coming, and yet still not quite understanding the circumstances beforehand.

"If you're gonna try and convert me, I'm not really interested," Haruki says, smirking slightly. At this point, despite his supposed suspicions, it's pretty clear he's not viewing her as a real threat at this stage.

"I knew it!" Eiko shouts. "I knew you weren't voting for me because you wanted to join the Order!" That's really all she had in her life, isn't it? I suppose after her parents died, she had nothing else left and just threw herself into that cult.

"No, we voted for you because you're a leader. For solidarity. Religion never came into it. Now, what's this big secret of yours?"

"The Green Ram has shown me the light, Haruki," Eiko replies. This time, not so much as a smirk crosses Haruki's face. Eiko's crossing the room, getting closer and closer to her intended victim. Is this the moment where she's about to lunge? "I know how to escape from this place."

"You do?" Haruki allows the cult leader to come closer, completely unaware of the danger he's putting himself in. Things get a bit awkward as he's a good five or six inches taller than Eiko, which makes his struggle to fend her off all the more confounding. He leans down slightly to get a little closer to her level, which almost eliminates the height difference, but not fully.

"There is only one way to leave this hospital. You want to know what that is, right?" Haruki nods, wishing to discover the secret of Cresthaven Hospital. Alas, it's incredibly obvious that she doesn't a_ctually _know how to escape or we'd never have had to come to this infernal courtroom. "The Green Ram has seen fit to reveal to me the reality of this world. The devil that traps us here is keeping us here in order to eliminate every last remnant of hope, one by one, while the world is consumed by despair..."

"And how does that help us escape, exactly?" enquires Haruki, perhaps a little too aggressively for Eiko's liking as her sleeve starts to slip.

"When did I ever say I'd be helping _you_ escape, huh?" This is nothing like the Eiko we briefly knew. There was the potential for her to be a friendly, helpful person, but Monokuma's wicked ways suppressed any opportunities for that to arise, turning her into whatever this is we're seeing now. "None of you are believers in the Green Ram, so why should I offer you a hand? No, this method of escape's just for me. You see… I brought you here to _kill you!_" Quick as a flash, her right sleeve rolls down to reveal the silver scalpel. Haruki tries to back away, but Eiko's other hand whips out and grabs onto that flapping red scarf and despite her size, she's able to drag him down to the floor and prepare for the kill as he tries to push her off.

"Why…" he chokes as the scarf begins to restrict his breathing, and with one hand he tries to uncoil the scarf while grabbing onto the hand holding the scalpel with his other in a Sisyphean struggle.

"The Green Ram demands a sacrifice," Eiko says, leaning her face in closer to Haruki's as if going in for a kiss. The kiss of death, maybe. "The Green Ram foretells that _I_ will become the new messiah and lead this world to its salvation! _I_ am the last hope!" Haruki tries to choke out some more words, but the scarf's still tightening around his neck. In sheer desperation he shifts tactics to try and roll her off his chest, allowing the scalpel to nick his scarf. With one of Eiko's hands still clamped tightly around one end as she's pushed away, part of the scarf rips right off, leaving a dangling string that Haruki tugs at.

"You've gone mad!" he declares as soon as he's got some breath back. This is the point at which Ryusuke enters the scene, rushing in and spotting the scalpel in Eiko's hand. He quickly grabs her, attempting a half-nelson style grip.

"You were supposed to be helping _me!_ You've betrayed me!" she screams. "How dare you defy the shining symbol of hope!" The scalpel slams into Ryusuke's thigh and he grits his teeth in pain, tightening his grip around her neck. It was one thing hearing the account of this incident, but seeing it first-hand, with the second scalpel tearing through Eiko's delicate pale skin like fabric, spilling blood and entrails all over the floor of the consultation room, is much more visceral and horrifying. Mere words failed to capture the gruesome nature of her fate.

* * *

><p>"There's an important moral to this story," Monokuma informs us. "I refer you to Exhibit A: 'The Last Hope.'"<p>

"What about it?" I ask.

"Well, that's what our dearly departed described herself as, of course! Puhuhu! What you just witnessed is the death of a literal embodiment of hope, a student of Hope's Peak Academy, who couldn't take any more of the despair that lingers in the air in this place. In an attempt to wipe that despair away, her already-damaged mind caused her to see herself as the last hope, the Ultimate Hope if you will. However, she, like the rest of you, fell afoul of that despair…"

"Yeah, we get it already," Akira interrupts. Compared to Monokuma's monologues, Akira's golf stories are flash fiction.

"You most certainly _don't _get it, or you wouldn't keep complaining all the time!" Monokuma replies. "Clinging to your precious hope is pointless and pathetic, but hey, if you want to end up like Eiko, be my guest! Seeing _you_ get strung up would sure get my blood pumping! Puhuhuhu!"

"Now do you all see what really happened?" Haruki asks. Most of the other students haven't the energy to speak after witnessing the horrors of a young woman's mind imploding and her psyche crumbling under the immense pressure of Monokuma's game of mutual killing.

"Why didn't you stop her yourself, you fucking idiot?" yells Akira, making the case that Haruki allowed Eiko to be taken by despair. "She was tiny! You could easily have pinned her down and kept her quiet for a bit." Akira, talking sense? When did I fall into a wormhole to an alternate dimension?

"When you're under attack, you don't think straight," Haruki says. "If I could have done things differently, believe me, I would have done it. I didn't want anybody to die, and I'm sure Ryusuke didn't either. If Eiko hadn't stabbed him and then tried to slit his throat with that other scalpel, she'd probably still be alive…"

"We can't say for certain what would have happened," Ryusuke cuts in. "Some of you will say I should never have been involved, but when I've been made aware of a potentially dangerous situation, I refuse to go AWOL."

"So ya shirked guard duty for this guy?" Zange asks, adjusting her black and red tartan skirt.

"I… I did as I was asked to do…" Ryusuke falls to one knee, specifically his right, which is probably going to be painful considering that's the leg he's still got a piece of scalpel lodged in. He grabs hold of his little dagger pendant, holding it tightly. "Father, forgive me…" Sometimes, when things get heated, you can forget that we've all got families in the outside world, waiting for us to return home. They must think we're at school, becoming the newest symbols of hope. They'd all be horrified to discover the truth.

"Ah yes, your father, Kyosuke Takeyama," says Rin. "Potentially the greatest martial artist the world has ever seen. Or at least, until the accident…"

"Father wanted me to do what he'd never been able to do and conquer the martial art circuits, so he taught me everything he knew," Ryusuke reveals. "I couldn't bring myself to fight for fame or money or anything else like that. The only valid reason I ever saw to use my techniques was to defend those who need it, so I became a bodyguard for the government instead. My pendant is the one reminder I had of my father…" And that's where the real tragedy sets in. Ryusuke's father will probably never find out what happened to his protégé, the son he raised to become his successor. Eiko's entire cult will probably disband, having heard nothing from their dear leader for days. As for my own family, I hope they never have to face this…

"Well, this is great and all, but I'm just itching to move on to the main attraction!" Monokuma declares from his cushy throne.

"Don't do it!" Nanima wails.

"He wasn't trying to kill her from the outset," Eizou says.

"Haruki, offer yourself up in his place," Alicia commands. "The least you could do is take some responsibility for your actions. It was _your_ fault he was ever involved in this horrible business."

"No," Haru says. "Ryusuke knew full well what he was doing. Let him take the punishment."

"Some of you have an incredibly warped sense of how the justice system works," Daisuke comments offhandedly. He's not totally wrong. While it's true that Ryusuke didn't intend for Eiko to die from the outset, ultimately, _he _did it. Still, it was all Monokuma's fault forcing us into these circumstances in the first place.

"Look, guys. Ryusuke's a good guy, a decent guy, probably the best of us, but we had to vote for the right person," says Haruki. "He's not just saved _my _life; he's saving all of us by being brave enough to face up to the consequences of his actions. Be thankful for the second chance we've been given. Once we all get out of here, I'll make sure everyone knows it was all thanks to the sacrifice made by Ryusuke Takeyama." He's not even dead yet, man.

"I'm still not convinced Monokuma's not just gonna off us all anyway," I say, voicing my ever-present concern.

"I wouldn't do that," Monokuma insists, waving that tiny gavel around some more. "That wouldn't be any fun! But hey, let's actually get this started!"

"Father, I hope I made you proud," Ryusuke breathes, tearing the silver necklace from his neck and offering it for one of us to take. Haruki decides he's the most appropriate recipient, taking the pendant despite having about fifty accessories of his own. Where's he planning on keeping that?

"Haru, I think you should keep hold of this," he says, offering it to the wheelchair-bound hero, who takes it, but not willingly.

"Great, a family heirloom," Haru comments. "Just what I always wanted…"

"It was an honour being in your service, sir!" Ryusuke declares.

"Well, I suppose it was handy having you around. Can't see anybody else around here being willing to wipe for me." If Ryusuke went that far for Haru, then that's gonna be a tough act to follow. I don't envy the poor bastard who gets chosen. The Ultimate Bodyguard stands to attention one last time, saluting us all and running a hand through his slicked-back hair.

"Monokuma, it's time," he says.

"It's been time for ten minutes!" Monokuma complains. "But let's not delay any further! I've prepared a very special punishment for Ryusuke Takeyama, the Ultimate Bodyguard! Let's give it everything we've got! IIIIIIIIIIIIT'S PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIME!" The bear bangs on his little bell with the gavel, and the big screen shows an 8-bit 'Game Over' screen of Monokuma dragging Ryusuke away before a door below the screen bursts open and a manacle on a chain clamps around the militaristic bodyguard's neck, dragging him away to another chamber.

"Where's he gone?" Hikari asks before being shushed by Monokuma.

"The fun's about to begin," he whispers creepily, pointing to the screen, which has an old movie style title card for something titled 'Prime Minister's Question Time.' I dread to think what this entails…

**Ryusuke's Execution: Prime Minister's Question Time**

The scene opens on a parliamentary meeting of the National Diet of Japan, except instead of the actual representatives of our country meeting to discuss the political future of our country, it's a gathering of Monokumas wearing suits. Ryusuke himself is attached to one of them, presumably the Prime Minister, by the chain around his neck. The Prime Minister is giving some sort of speech about something, but the speech is drowned out by some excessively loud music that's full of synthesisers. Monokuma knows how to fuck with an audience's expectations.

Ryusuke's not even trying to escape, knowing that there's nothing he can do now. While the Prime Minister continues droning on, a Monokuma dressed in an old-style school uniform runs onto the scene armed with a katana. He's heading straight for the Prime Minister, who turns so that the end of the sword is aiming right for Ryusuke. The Ultimate Bodyguard grabs the weapon by the blade, not caring about slicing his hands up, and wrenches it out of the student's grasp. The student runs away from the scene while the Prime Minister recomposes himself.

As it turns out, his attack was merely a distraction. All of the politicians have drawn their own swords, ranging from _wakizashi_ to British broadswords, and begin to spill out from the benches and set upon their Prime Minister and his guard. Ryusuke is powerless to resist the assault of four-hundred crazed Monokumas stabbing him all over and while he struggles valiantly, he is eventually overcome and the Monokuma crowd disperses, allowing us to see the bodyguard collapsed on the floor, bleeding profusely. The Prime Minister, in the ultimate display of irony, pulls out a scalpel and slices Ryusuke's throat before wiping the implement off with a handkerchief and replacing it casually in his pocket.

**END**

Throughout the execution, various students peeled their eyes away from the screen, not wishing to see Ryusuke die in such a horrific manner, but Hikari has remained enraptured for the duration of the picture, clapping and cheering when the climactic moment came.

"Woohooooooooo! That movie was awesome! Again! Again!" The medium through which the execution was presented seems to have convinced the Ultimate Pyrotechnician that what we've just witnessed wasn't real. I'm dreading seeing her reaction when the penny finally drops.

"Puhuhu! See, this one gets it!" Monokuma proclaims. "Why haven't the rest of you taken her attitude?"

"Because… he just _fucking died!_" Dulce screams, showing that she's proficient in profanity in at least two different languages.

"Sorry, I slept through it, what did I miss?" asks Nayumi. How the hell do you even sleep through that? I wouldn't be surprised if I never sleep again after what I just saw.

"He's d-d-d-dead," Nanima stutters in disbelief. The headphones and the hood are right back over her head, but her eyes saw everything. I get the feeling she may need to pay me a visit tonight.

"While I appreciate the political satire, having Ryusuke be killed in such a brutal manner was excessive," Zygoth says. "You _can_ make a statement about the government without having to kill anyone, you know."

"Why'd ya have to go make a mockery of ol' Ryusuke like that?" asks Zange, tightening her tie around her collar.

"Because, _shocking news_, he killed someone! This is what we do to the blackened! We punish them severely! Make an example of them! This is the risk you take when you become the blackened, puhuhu!"

"If you hadn't tipped Eiko over the edge, then none of this would've happened," I say. That's the one thing we need to remember here. Monokuma is _always_ to blame.

"Her mind was weak," Daisuke says, yawning. "She allowed herself to become delusional, Haruki allowed himself to be attacked, Ryusuke took it upon himself to kill her with his own two hands. All parties are to blame for succumbing to Monokuma's will so easily."

"You don't have a nice thing to say to anybody, do you?" Eizou asks gruffly.

"Not to idiots like yourself," replies Daisuke.

"You _bastard!" _Eizou roars, lunging at Daisuke. Several other students pile in to drag the two parties apart.

"Alright, court's dismissed, students," says Monokuma, jumping off the golden throne to wave us goodbye. "Just remember… you're here forever! Puhuhuhuhu!" Those of us not involve in the squabble pile into the lift, Ryusuke's absence leaving a little more breathing room. Hikari's squeezing my hand tightly and babbling about something or other, but I'm just not listening. After what we've all witnessed, how can I? Ryusuke was probably the noblest, most humble, and definitely least deserving of us all to be executed. Eiko may have been driven mad, but there's no reason we couldn't have tried to calm her down and reintegrate her into the group. Now, both of them are gone, senseless victims of Monokuma's cruel game of despair, and I just can't shake the feeling that it's not going to end there…

**Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark... End**

**Remaining Students: 14**

**A.N.: That's it, we're finally through the first chapter of the killing game. My thanks to everyone who's stuck with it so far, and I hope you'll stay for the ride right until the end! The next chapter, Paying the Iron Price, will start soon, as well as a short festive story set pre-Despair that should hopefully be up in time for Christmas. Happy Holidays, folks! **


	17. Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price I

**Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price I**

By the time we arrive back at the emergency ward, it's already night-time, and after the long day we've had, all anyone else wants to do is go to bed and forget any of this ever happened. Even Hikari's starting to get worn out. I, however, won't be afforded that luxury, since I'm the Ultimate Insomniac. I can't help but think tonight's gonna be a long one…

I allow Hikari into my room so she can settle down and sleep, promising I'll join her later. Right now, I could do with some time alone to reflect on what's happened to us these past couple of days. We were all supposed to be enrolling on a course of educational enlightenment at the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy, but we've found ourselves in an abandoned Cresthaven Hospital, trapped by someone claiming to be the headmaster of the very academy we were meant to attend. Instead of hope, he wants to produce despair by having us kill each other, and unfortunately, Eiko and Ryusuke succumbed to that despair. It may not be long until more of us follow.

I spend much of my time wandering the corridors alone, thinking over the murder, investigation, trial and execution. Could we have done anything different to have stopped Eiko's mental collapse? By the time we'd met up in the cafeteria this morning, the rot had already set in and her plan was about to be set in motion. Haruki's proven himself to not be the capable cool-headed leader I thought he was. Ryusuke was forced to give his life to ensure the rest of us survived. At times like this, I wish I could just go to sleep and wake up to a new day, but of course, I can't.

After a few hours of aimless meandering, noticing that the crime scene has been cleaned up and that the gate that originally closed off access to the stairs seems to be open, I head back to my dorm room, leaving the mystery of the stairs for later. It'll be better for us all to have a good look around up there together and see if a way to escape this dreaded place awaits us. I roughly remember how my room was laid out, so I'm able to cross the room without waking the sleeping Hikari and take a seat on that awful green chair. She's a really noisy sleeper, constantly shifting around and mumbling incomprehensibly. If I do end up having to go on one of her camping trips, I'll have to remember to pack my own tent.

On the bedside table, just as it was when the discovery of Eiko's body was announced, is the tray of food that Eizou brought us, but everything on it has been sitting there for twelve hours and gone cold. Flicking on the desk lamp to aid me, I take the tray and dump its contents in the bin, vowing to empty it out into one of the bigger bins when the morning comes. The sleeping pyrotechnician shifts her position again, causing the bed to creak. I hear a slight murmur, and as I return to my seat, I find Hikari positioned almost perfectly lined up with me.

As I sit there, realising I've not really paid much attention to her facial features even though she's been ever present these past couple of days, her big green eyes open and a hand shoots out from beneath the duvet, grasping one of mine. Hikari's expression is one of worry, and when she breaks the silence, her voice has an ominous tone to it.

"I'm so glad you're here by my side," she says. "I just had the most horrible dream where the guy with the shiny boots died." Oh shit, does she mean Ryusuke?

"What was it?" I enquire, wanting to know the exact details. I don't know a lot about dreams, but when I do get them they can be really freaky and vivid. Sometimes it's impossible to tell if I even _am_ asleep or not.

"We were all in this big room, and then he got dragged away and all these guys with swords came out and stabbed him," she replies. It's taken unconsciously dwelling on the incident for her to finally realise what happened to Ryusuke, but since it was in a dream, she's still not been able to connect the dots. I think I may have to break it to her before the morning comes and he's not there.

"Hikari… that actually happened. Ryusuke's dead. We all watched him die." I've never seen Hikari looking sad before, but tears begin welling up in her eyes and her face is contorted. She looks almost in pain, which I guess she could be emotionally speaking.

"Really? I thought… I thought that was just a movie… Whyyyyyyy?" This sudden outpouring of emotion is unprecedented. I didn't even know she cared about Ryusuke, let alone enough to mourn his passing. I don't really know how to proceed from here. Hikari's reactions are far from predictable and I fear saying anything else will just make things worse. All I can do is use the method that works whenever my sister Haruka is upset.

"Hug?" I ask, dragging the chair closer and widening my stance. Hikari sits up and pulls me closer, softly wrapping her arms around me and pressing her face into my shoulder, her chest poking into mine. My hands run through her tangled, matted hair, and I realise she _really_ needs to learn what a hairbrush is. Someone around here must have a spare one. Hell, maybe we could nick one from Eiko's room since she won't be using it any longer.

"Th-this is all real, isn't it? W-we're r-really trapped in here… forever and ever," Hikari sobs. "I wanna go home!"

"We all do, Hikari," I say, lightly stroking the back of her head to soothe her. For whatever reason, repetitive rhythmic motions like that seem to work pretty well for calming people down.

"That bear… he's not nice at all! He wants to _kill_ us!" I almost mention how it wasn't so long ago she was talking about how she would've burned Eiko, but I hold my tongue, knowing better than to put myself in danger or upset her even more. At least she's finally starting to realise what's going on here.

"That's right," I concur, guiding her along the right path. With her being so close to me I'm starting to notice so many things about her I never did before. She's so warm, as though a fire was burning within her, and her scent is one of fireworks and hard graft. Beneath her hair I can even feel the curvature of her spine, presumably acquired from years of crouching down to set up pyrotechnic displays.

"What if… what if we're next?" Hikari asks, sobbing intermittently. "I don't know what to doooooooo…"

"You don't have to worry," I say softly. "We're in this together. You, me, Zygoth and everyone else, we're all gonna team up. Together, we'll make it out of here, and we'll go on that camp-out like you said." I may well have just made a vow that I'll regret, but if it helps keep Hikari calm, then it's worth it. Many people might not believe it but there's a warm heart beating in here somewhere. My cruelty towards Nanima in that trial, and the resultant reaction, tells me that maybe I should make more of an effort to display that in future.

Eventually, Hikari calms down and falls asleep against me, forcing me to hold this position for hours with dead arms until the bells toll and Monokuma urges us all to cure ourselves of hope once more. Even after I let her go, she still wants to cling onto me, but I tell her I need to wash and she allows me to leave to do just that. I definitely need to change clothes now; they smell like they've been smouldering in a fire after spending the past few hours with Hikari in my arms.

We're the last to arrive at the cafeteria this morning, and the word of the day is 'maudlin'. Everyone's spread out across different tables, eating their breakfasts in mournful silence.

"Oh, it's you two," Daisuke comments, while everyone else just ignores us. The two of us cross the room, and while I pluck a couple of sandwiches and a drink off one of the display counters, Hikari goes through into the kitchen to prepare herself something more substantial. Just being in here is starting to get me down.

"Hey, Daisuke," I say, seeing as he's the only one who seems to be communicative this morning.

"What do you want, peasant?" he asks. "If you wish to inform me of the second floor becoming accessible, that's literally yesterday's news."

"Has anyone actually been up there yet or have they all just been sat around being miserable?" I enquire as Hikari emerges with a large plate of bacon, sausages and something brown that I can't even begin to identify. A thick cloud of smoke follows her before she slams the kitchen door shut. Daisuke pulls a handkerchief from his sleeve as she sits down and covers his nose and mouth with it, as though trying to avoid catching some sort of contagion.

"I dare say they've all taken the events that transpired yesterday rather badly," he comments, muffled by the hankie. Too right. I don't think I've ever seen so many people crying into their miso before. We continue to eat in almost as much silence as the others, but once we're done, Hikari stands up and demands everyone's attention.

"Shinji told me we're all gonna team up, find our way out and go camping!" she declares, echoing the promise I made in the night. "My grandpa said we should always try to learn from our mistakes. And that's why… uh…" She looks at me, eyes full of hope and expectation, waiting for me to give some sort of input. Let's just get this over with.

"Last night, as I was wandering the corridors, I happened to notice the stairway's been cleared," I say, continuing from where Hikari left off. "Perhaps the next floor might hold some clues that could help us finally escape. Who's up for it?" That seems to have brought everyone to life as people push away their empty bowls and start making a move for the exit. Hikari hares off into the distance, singing 'The Devil's Gallop' as she goes, rather predictably leaving me with the task of clearing up the cafeteria. Once that's done, I go off to join the others in the stairwell near the reception. Thankfully, there's lift access as well so we don't have to abandon Haru on the bottom floor forever.

The lift can only fit a few of us in, so Haru, Zange, Dulce, Nayumi and Alicia, back in her formal school uniform and with her nails painted pink and blue, get in, leaving the rest of us to climb a couple of flights of stairs. Exiting this stairwell leads us to yet more corridors. Hospitals do tend to be about 80% corridor these days. All the better for chasing down your victim in the dead of night and stabbing them. There are options available to the left and right of us, but no signs on the walls to tell us what's what.

"What shall we do, then?" Alicia enquires.

"There's fourteen of us, so it'd be reasonable to have seven of us go one way and seven another, yes?" Haruki asks.

"Sounds like a plan," I say.

"Okay, you, Hikari and the guys who were in the lift, go right, the rest of us can take the left side," Haruki decides. I'm not sure quite how much sway he holds after his culpability in Ryusuke's needless death, but he's still bossing people around regardless. Not having a better solution to hand, I decide it's better just to do as he says and turn right. It's not long until our party is forced to split again as the path begins to branch. One way leads to an MRI room, the other goes off further to our right. I let Zange, Haru and Alicia investigate that and bring the other three into the MRI unit with me.

As you might well expect from a room labelled 'MRI', there's a large machine shaped like a doughnut, with a moving bed for patients to lie on as they're moved into the large circular hole in the middle. There's a pair of headphones attached to the machine, along with some complicated-looking computer screens that I presume will display the results of a scan. I can't see us getting very much use out of this place.

"That looks so comfy," Nayumi says, lying down on the bed and dropping off to sleep.

"Hey Shinji, you reckon we should scan her while she sleeps?" Dulce asks, keen to try out the cool new technology despite probably having no idea how it works or what it does.

"That might not be wise," I advise her. "Or ethical."

"Eh, nobody cares about that where I come from," she says. "Our local doctor didn't even go to university. He did operations in the back of a stolen ambulance and sold bootleg painkillers." I sure hope Dulce's not had to go under the knife too many times back home. How did she even get on Hope's Peak's radar, anyway? I know they've started branching out internationally recently, but even so, if where she comes from is as remote as it sounds, it's a miracle they picked her out.

"You can draw up some schematics for us if you want," I suggest. "Map this room out just in case there's anything useful in here."

"_No problemo,_" Dulce says, plucking her cartography pencil out from behind her ear and producing some paper. I leave her and Nayumi behind, after wrenching Hikari away from the potentially dangerous machinery, and take her up the way I sent the other three. I open the door and find a full-on gymnasium hidden behind it. All manner of weights, treadmills and cross-training machines are spread out across the room. Look at all this equipment hardly anyone will ever use. Poor Ryusuke, getting himself executed before he could make use of it.

"Yo, Zombie, nice of you to join us," Zange says.

"This gym is extremely well-furnished, it must be said," Alicia says, acknowledging Monokuma's handiwork.

"If ya check out the back, there's a pool too," Zange tells me. Hikari's rather bemused expression tells me that she's not interested in going swimming. Makes sense with water being the natural antithesis to fire. I proceed through the door that Zange indicates, which leads to a large swimming pool that rather thoughtfully has a patient lift so Haru could go swimming if he ever felt like it. Speaking of the Ultimate Hero, I see no sign of him by the poolside, but notice there's a couple of other rooms off to the side. In one of them is a dedicated hydrotherapy pool, built specifically for patient rehabilitation, and Haru is sat at the side of it, dipping his arm into the water. I notice he's wearing Ryusuke's pendant.

"Never thought I'd be glad to see one of these again," he says wistfully.

"They tried hydrotherapy on you? How did that go?" I ask. I can't help but be reminded of a documentary I once saw where a vet started a dog on hydrotherapy classes twice a week. The dog looked happy enough, but I can't imagine Haru paddling in one of those things.

"About as well as everything else they tried," he replies ruefully. I leave him to his moping and pass by Zange and Alicia as they admire an elliptical trainer. As far as I'm concerned all this stuff just looks the same, I don't get why one piece is more special than the others. As long as you can keep your weight in check, that's all that matters really. Hikari's waiting by the entrance leading back to the corridor, and after I note the position of the changing rooms (far corner, boys on the left, girls on the right) we leave to check out the left side of this floor.

As with the last floor, there's a small corridor connecting the two sides, and as before there's very little of use down it. As we emerge on the other side, I come face to face with a doctor's office marked 'Dr. V. Andolini.' It can't be, can it? There's no way that same doctor from the little town near Milan started working at this very hospital. That's one hell of a coincidence. Maybe _that's_ why my parents wanted to send me here. I shake those thoughts of a past practitioner away and take a left, which leads us to another empty, useless ward.

"Why does he choose to confound us so?" Zygoth asks dramatically as I enter. Hikari's right behind me, singing 'Don't Stop Me Now' as though the events of yesterday never happened. I should have known she'd bounce back from it quickly.

"Who?" I ask in return, not quite getting what Zygoth means due to Hikari's singing.

"Monokuma, of course," Nanima says. I almost didn't notice her sitting on one of the beds playing whatever game it is she's been playing the past couple of days. The headphones are off, though, so she's able to hear us. I look across to the end of the room, and to my horror, the portrait that Eizou is examining is one of a very familiar face. Doctor Vito Andolini, with his thin moustache and neatly-trimmed hair, stares back at me with an expression of derision and contempt, just as he did when he was treating me.

"Whoa, what's up, man?" Eizou asks when he notices me staring into the fierce brown eyes of the doctor of my nightmares.

"That guy in the painting used to be my doctor," I tell him. He squints at the plaque at the side of the painting, reading the inscription.

"Says here he practiced in Italy until 2011," Eizou informs me.

"Yeah…" I say. When the company my dad was a part of was booming, he was put in charge of the Italian branch so we ended up living there for a couple of years until Haruka was born. After that, we moved back to Japan and I left that chapter of my life behind, but I could never shed the memories of that foul doctor and his rancid garlicky breath. Maybe he wasn't really as bad as I remember, but as a child, he terrified me. Monokuma's made this place all the more despairing for me just by having his portrait up. I leave the ward without saying another word.

On the way to the final room we can access, I pass a few more offices, those of 'Y. Matsuda,' 'Dr. S. Okazaki' and 'Dr T. Suzuki.' Thankfully, none of those names are at all familiar to me. Before entering the last room, I take a deep breath and brace myself in case it happens to be a shrine to Dr. Andolini, and while I steel myself, Hikari runs past and barges the door open, revealing an unprecedentedly large library.

"Whoa, look at all these books!" she squeals. "This would be the perfect place to create a towering inferno!" With us all trapped inside this building? Perhaps not a great idea. Besides, you've got Rin to contend with.

"I'm afraid I could never allow these books to come to any harm," she says. She appears to be trying to catalogue the vast collection of texts lining the many shelves, while Daisuke's seated in an old armchair, delving deep into a thick hardback. Nearest the entrance is the seating area, which has several chairs and tables and, for some inexplicable reason, an old record player. Beyond us lie rows and rows of books, although with this being a library that's to be expected. Haruki and Akira must be somewhere within this maze of shelves.

"This remind you of home?" I ask of the Ultimate Librarian as she's doing her rounds, while glancing furtively behind me to make sure Hikari's not setting fire to the literature.

"It does a bit, yes," Rin replies. "In fact, I recognise most of these books. This could very easily be the same collection." It can't be, though, can it? I mean, it's one thing to abduct a bunch of high schoolers and put them in an abandoned hospital, but to also steal a library's collection of books and transport it to the same location would arouse some suspicion.

"Oi, where's the autobiographies?" Akira asks loudly. I hadn't had him pinned as one for reading _any_ sort of books, but if he was to choose any category, other people's stories would probably be the one that made the most sense. Rin leaves my side to attempt to guide the golfer to the autobiographical section and I keep watch over Hikari as she looks through a shelf full of DIY manuals. Learning how to build a barbeque would be useful if we actually had the equipment and there wasn't the risk of us being gassed to death by it.

"Ah, there you two are," Haruki says. In his arms he carries several volumes of various manga series. Right at the top of the pile is a rare volume of Bastard!, an interesting choice to say the least. Once I can be absolutely certain there's no risk of any harm coming to them, I might think about loaning a few books out myself.

"I thought you'd be all over that record player right now," I comment.

"Nah, Daisuke's hogging the lounge and he insists on silence," says Haruki. "The record collection's a bit sparse anyway. You guys looking for anything in particular?"

"Not really," I reply. After two days of not having any reading material at all, it does feel good to have such a staggering amount of books to choose from. Maybe I could just let Hikari have my dorm room at night and stay here instead. I'm not overly attached to anything in there so she can do what she wants with it décor-wise.

"Well, hope you find something," Haruki says, ambling past us with his collection of manga. As he passes by Hikari, he stops and sniffs the air like a dog tracking a hound. "Shinji, can you smell that? It's like a matchbox that's been stuck under someone's armpit for a year." As he checks his manga out of the library, I come to the realisation that Hikari's hygiene record is pretty poor. She's not washed since we got here, and because her room's locked, she's been wearing the exact same set of clothes for the past three days. Someone's going to have to give her a bath, and if she has her way, then there's only person she'd ever allow to do that…

**A.N.: Here we are, the start of the next arc, and for some odd reason it's the one I have the least amount of detailed plans for which is a bit worrying... **

**People wondering about the next chapter and whether that'll mean I have to bump up the rating, probably not, for a multitude of reasons. This is _not_ a lemon fic, and I'm not just throwing fanservice in for the hell of it so there's not going to be graphic descriptions or anything. Plus I doubt that the site's admins will bother banning me for including allusions to nudity in a T-rated fic in a very niche subsection. **


	18. Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price II

**Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price II**

I usher Hikari out of the library as quickly as possible before her odour can fill it, although I'm fairly certain Daisuke notices the smell as he has his handkerchief at the ready. Can I _really_ do this? A guy running his hands all over a girl's body just doesn't feel right, especially when the girl in question seems to be incredibly out of touch with everything. Someone else must be able to help me out here. There could be showers in the gym's changing rooms, but then where the hell do I go about finding a fresh set of clothes?

"Where are we going?" asks Hikari.

"Hikari, you've been in the same clothes for three days," I say frankly. "Think it's about time you got clean." I head to the gym in the hope that Zange or Alicia will help me out, although with the latter, I'm seriously trying my luck. The Ultimate Archer is currently stood near the centre of the room curling dumbbells, which I assume helps keep those arms tough enough to manipulate a bow. The Ultimate Burglar, however, is nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't expect to see you two back here so soon," Alicia says, still keeping up her rhythm with the dumbbells.

"Do you know where Zange went?" I ask.

"She's with Haru helping him with his hydrotherapy, since _you_ neglected to," she answers spitefully.

"He never asked me for assistance," I say in my defence. If he'd made it clear he actually wanted to get in the pool then I probably would've helped him out, provided he didn't spend the whole time moaning about how his legs don't work.

"Yes, well, perhaps you should start using your initiative," Alicia says. "Why do you need Zange anyway?" This is the moment I have to embarrass myself further in front of someone who already seems to have little respect for me.

"Well, uh… Hikari's not washed for three days, and…"

"And?" Alicia interrupts.

"Well, I can't really rely on her to do it herself…" Alicia gives me an irritated look, clearly annoyed that I'm unwilling to perform such a task.

"I'd have thought you'd jump at the opportunity to have a naked girl right in front of you. I'm sure it's nothing you haven't seen before. _From afar._" Now that was fairly uncalled for. I seriously can't keep up with Alicia's views. If I'd shown any enthusiasm for the task that awaits me I would surely have been chewed out for being a pervert. Now because of my apprehension I'm being labelled as a miserable unqualified virgin. I can't win either way.

"That's not the biggest issue here," I say, remembering something far more important. "She's not got a change of clothes because her room's locked, and I've got nothing that'll fit her." She'd look absolutely ridiculous in my uniform. The trousers are too short for a start, and combined with her refusal to wear anything on her feet she'd look like the poster-girl for a child poverty campaign. Hell, if she continued not washing she'd be even more convincing in that role.

"No way am I lending you my clothes," Alicia protests, repulsed by the idea. "You're on your own there, dude!" Please don't make me resort to raiding the laundry room. My dignity will never recover if it has to come down to that. I feel Hikari's clammy hand clasping mine and suddenly I'm flying through the door and being dragged along the corridor.

"Bath time with Shinji, this will be fun!" she sings in a very vague nursery rhyme-style tune. I was hoping that wouldn't be made public knowledge, but I'm sure Alicia would have blabbed to everyone else anyway so all Hikari's done here is speed up the spread of the news. I'm lucky not to trip down the stairs and break my neck, such is the speed that Hikari hurtles down them, skipping the odd step on her way as her firm grip keeps me from wriggling away. Her bare feet thud against the ground as we run back to my dorm. As I fumble in my pocket for my room key, I see a shadow rising up in between us. At first, I think it's Rin, but as soon as the shadow laughs, I know it definitely isn't her.

"Puhuhu! I sure hope you two aren't planning on doing anything _naughty!_" As if things couldn't get any worse, I'm reminded that Monokuma has his surveillance cameras everywhere. "Admit it, this is just like the start of an H-manga! I bet you've read plenty of those, haven't you, Shinji? Volumes upon volumes, hours upon hours viewing such lewd images when everyone else has gone to bed…"

"You shut the fuck up, Monokuma!" I yell, kicking out at him before remembering the rules and pulling my foot back, whacking myself in the shin. It was bad enough when it was just Alicia, but now I've got this little shit making me out to be some sort of deviant too.

"Go away!" Hikari shouts, trying to shoo away the pesky bear. "I know what you're up to! You're gonna wait until there's steam everywhere and then STAB STAB STAB!" All while dressed in his mother's clothing. Can a robotic bear even _have_ a mother? I suppose he could just make do with a bad perm and a flowery dress if it came down to it.

"Where's the fun in that?" Monokuma asks, putting a paw to his chin. "Why go through the effort of doing it myself when your fellow students are perfectly up to the task?"

"See, Hikari, _that's_ why he's so evil," I say. "He made Eiko and Ryusuke fight to the death. Are you trying to turn us two against one another?"

"Puhuhuhu! Now wouldn't _that_ be a story! Two star-crossed lovers, torn apart by sheer despair… I might just have to pencil that one in somewhere!" Goddammit, even Monokuma believes we're an item, when the reality is quite different. I turn away and ignore the bear, unlocking the door to my dorm and giving Hikari a gentle push to get her in. That _was_ her lower back I just had my hand on, right? It must've been, unless she's got absolutely no gluteal muscles whatsoever.

"Hurry up, Shinji, before he gets in," Hikari urges, pulling me through the door and slamming it in Monokuma's face. Ever since her late-night epiphany, she's really started to hate him for what he's doing. Only about forty-eight hours late to the party there. I make sure the door is now locked before we proceed to the next part, the part that I've been dreading. I put the shower up to the hottest temperature and hope the steam obscures everything, not just for me, but for Monokuma.

I turn around and Hikari's already started removing her clothes, casting away both the red t-shirt and the long-sleeved grey undershirt in one swift motion and wriggling out of her grey jogging bottoms, leaving her in just a set of red flame-patterned underwear. If anything, I'm surprised it's a matching set. She's sat on the edge of my bed, tugging at her bandages ineffectually in an incredibly obvious effort for me to go over and help.

I close the shower cubicle to stop the rest of the bathroom floor getting wet, check my bathroom supplies to make sure there's enough towels and then give in to her demands. It's a bit of a concern that her dressings haven't, in fact, been changed for three days, even though her burns appear to be old. I can't imagine just how horrifically painful the initial burns must have been. Hikari will know much more about than I do.

"How do you still have an arm left?" I ask Hikari as I unravel the mass of bandages, working my way up her arm and running my hand along the gnarled, blackened skin. While she's gone to a lot of effort to cover these burns up, she's totally fine with me removing the bandages and examining her arm. It's horrifying, but at the same time fascinating.

"I dunno," she admits. "Guess I was lucky. This is the price I paid for not showing fire the respect it deserved when I was younger!" Considering the lengths she initially went to in order to hide them, she's not embarrassed by me handling her arm. That might just because of her affection towards me, though. As with everything else Hikari does, it's almost impossible to tell.

"You're really brave," I say, unravelling the bandages around her shoulder, where the skin and flesh starts to return to normal. Part of the bandage is caught in her bra strap. As I attempt to remove it, Hikari's hand joins mine, tugging the bandage out and sliding the strap down her shoulder. She turns her face towards me, gazing deep into my eyes.

"I suppose I am," she says. "Every waking moment in the outside world, I'm surrounded by unsafe chemicals like gunpowder and barium chloride. You've got to know how to handle it all correctly and get the right balance, or else you could end up even worse off than me."

"Anyone else would've given up on ever handling fireworks again, but you didn't let it hold you back. That's admirable." Hikari's inching closer to me, and the atmosphere is positively electric.

"That's how we do things in our family," she says. The room's starting to fill up with steam, indicating that the shower's ready.

"Guess we've got to do this, haven't we?" I ask. I roll my sleeves up, preparing for the task ahead, and enter the bathroom, taking Hikari's hand and guiding her in.

"You'd better be ready to give me a good scrubbing!" Hikari says as I close the bathroom door, which isn't really necessary but I still end up doing it out of habit. She carelessly discards her bra on the bathroom floor and as she starts to pull off her red knickers, I scoop up the bra and place it on the sink near the bathroom mirror. When I turn back around, she's got her knickers bunched up in her hand. I try not to dwell on them too much as I place them alongside the bra on the side. Thankfully I don't have to add anything to the pile as I'm not planning to get under the stream.

"Pass the shampoo and the comb over," I order as Hikari opens the cubicle door and steps into the shower at last. How am I supposed to compose myself in this sort of situation? We barely know each other and we're trapped in a hospital by a sadist. Instead of thinking about that, I focus on her long brown locks as I wash her hair and comb the shampoo through, occasionally accidentally tearing chunks out where it's become really knotted and tangled. If it was maintained properly, I suspect any girl would be envious of her hair.

"You're sooooooo good at this, Shinji," she says, grabbing the bar of soap and rubbing it into a flannel. "I remember when I was little and Mum used to wash me. She'd have the radio on and we'd sing along to all the songs. Then she stopped because I was a big girl, and big girls have to learn how to wash themselves." That reminds me a little of the times I've had to bathe Haruka because my parents were busy. This is exactly what that's like. Just focus on that. Pretend it's Haruka, but much taller. Still flat as a board, though.

"Well, you are pretty big now," I say. "You're taller than me." That's one of the slight sources of my embarrassment, really. My height's average for a Japanese guy, but somehow this place is full of freakishly tall people. Pretty much all the other guys tower over me. Makes you feel a little insignificant when you have to look upwards to make eye contact with everyone around you.

"The Himura family prides itself on being the longest and tallest line of pyrotechnicians in all of Japan!" Hikari declares before passing the soap and flannel around her back to me. "Hope you can reach my back, because my arms can't!" Did she even properly do her front? She lifts her hair up so that I can start on her back. Then, I have to work my way down her body as she didn't even get close to her legs, and while I'm slightly apprehensive at first, I realise Hikari really doesn't have any inhibitions. She steps further under the shower's spray, forcing me to move forward so I'm all the way in the cubicle with her.

Once I move downwards, I make sure I pay extra attention to those hard, callused feet. What's with the insistence on going barefoot? I ask Hikari this very same question as she lifts one leg up to allow me to scrub the sole of her foot.

"Don't tell me that's some sort of family tradition," I add, working my way back up the right leg. My previous comments that her figure is nearly non-existent still ring true, although now it's almost certain it's mainly composed of muscle due to her manually intensive line of work. She's putting me to shame.

"I just like the feeling of my bare feet on the floor," Hikari replies. At this point I've done all I can around her back and she turns around. As steamy as the room is right now, it doesn't hide very much. I return to work, being as careful and delicate as I can while Hikari begins to rinse her hair. She closes her eyes, tossing her head back so it's right underneath the shower head. I'm not sure quite how deliberate that is, so I ignore it, trying not to get too hung up on the fact that she has breasts, however small they may be, and that I'm going to have to clean them.

"How am I doing?" I ask, at a loss what else to say as I change focus to the collarbone. Her left hand grabs my right, encouraging me to clean just a bit lower. Again, how deliberate is this? She's always been open with me, and physical to the extreme, but I was always sure that it was just the way she is with people in general. She doesn't seem to understand personal boundaries, or at the very least chooses to ignore them. While I respect that, I don't know if it sits quite right with me. The comparisons I've made between her and my own sister make things seem just a little bit unsettling.

"If I was to give you a rating, it'd be a twelve," she says, taking my other hand in hers. If she pulls me in any further then… Shit. I'm at war with myself right now. There's a naked girl right in front of me, who it must be said isn't terribly unattractive once she's cleaned up a bit, and she's putting the moves on me, but is this really what either of us really wants or is the high-intensity situation we find ourselves in forcing the two of us together?

In a moment of madness, weakness possibly, I give in. She drags me closer, right under the stream of the shower, and our lips lock in a fiery kiss that, while brief due to the humidity of the hot shower, enables us to finally release some pent-up tension. Forgive me, Ishtar, for I am but weak and mortal, made of flesh and blood and trapped inside a shower cubicle with a tantalisingly mad girl.

"Fuck," I breathe as what we've just done sinks in. I finish cleaning her in silence, and as the water cuts off and the steam around us dissipates, I do my best to dry myself off and then throw the towel to Hikari, telling her I'm off to find her some clothes and not to go anywhere. What the fuck have I done? What the actual fuck is happening? I snatch up her fiery red underwear off the sink and that just serves to remind me of what just transpired. How am I supposed to feel about this?

I can't push that kiss out of my mind as I change out of my wet clothes and into a clean set. Out of the corner of my eye I notice that the bathroom door's open just a crack. I shouldn't be concerned about Hikari seeing _me_ naked at this point, not after what just happened. This feels so wrong, like I just snogged my cousin, or even worse, my sister. I see so many common traits between Hikari and my own sibling, the hyperactivity, the tendency to follow me around everywhere and the wonder and innocence with which they approach life, although Hikari's starting to discover the true nature of the world. Perhaps that's what spurred this sudden behaviour. Monokuma is corrupting us all in a more subtle manner.

I rush out with Hikari's clothes and dirty bandages, hurrying to the laundry room and filling up a washing machine with the former and discarding the latter in the big waste disposal unit in the back room, hoping nobody spots me. I rush to the storeroom, knowing that I can get those gauze bandages from there. I take the first roll I find, stashing it away in my blazer alongside a pair of scissors before trying to think what to do next. Who could I borrow clothes from? At this moment in time I can only thing of one candidate, and that's Zange. Thankfully I brought my e-handbook with me in preparation and I can view her location at this moment. Haru's room.

"Hey, Shinji," someone says, and I spy Akira strolling up towards me with a big grin on his face and a collection of books about Tiger Woods under his arm. "That library's got an unbelievable collection! Why, they even have a signed copy of…"

"Not now, Akira!" I yell frantically.

"You alright, man? You look a bit…" I don't even let Akira finish before running away back towards the dormitories. The kiss is still going through my mind, and suddenly I imagine Hikari reclining nude on my bed, just waiting for me to return… I shake my head vigorously, trying to cast the images away. I focus on those burns, how leathery they were to the touch, the revolting shade of brown and black her scorched skin had turned, how it's fortunate that Hikari didn't end up an amputee instead of an Ultimate. I still feel so ashamed, like I've breached her trust. I feel like a criminal.

Desperately, I knock on the door to Haru's dorm, knowing that the Ultimate Hero's lack of mobility will mean Zange will be the one answering the door.

"Oh, hi, Zombie," she says, although she looks quite shocked. "Me an' Wheels weren't expectin' visitors. What's up?"

"Clothes," I say quickly. Why is Zange in Haru's room? I need to think. I need time to process things, but I also could really do with those clothes as soon as possible.

"Excuse me?" she asks, looking slightly baffled.

"The hell's going on out there?" Haru yells from inside. It'd be a remarkable coincidence if she was in the process of helping Haru bathe right now. I shudder just thinking about cleaning those useless legs, atrophied from years of being unused.

"Zombie's askin' me for clothes or somethin'!" Zange calls back. "The heck do you need clothes for?"

"Didn't Alicia tell you?" I ask. "Hikari had a shower for the first time in three days and all her stuff's in her room. Do you have anything that might fit her?"

"Well, ain't this an odd request," Zange says. There's no protestation, nothing to indicate I'm some sort of leery creep looking for a cheap thrill. It's almost like she's treating me like a reasonable human being. Perhaps I didn't do anything wrong after all.

"Will you help me, though?" I stop short of falling to my knees and begging but it's definitely clear how urgent my request is from my tone. Thankfully, Zange agrees to help, meaning I don't have to fall back on the plan to pick through the laundry room baskets. My heart no longer seems to be pounding directly in between my ears, and I'm able to control my breathing slightly better.

"Haru, I'm off to help Zombie out with a lil problem he's havin'! You gonna be alright on your own for a short while?" Zange's pleasant country accent must be helping me calm down.

"I spent two fucking years feeling isolated from the world," he replies. "What difference does a few minutes make?"

"Alrighty, I won't be long," she says. "He doesn't like me callin' him Wheels," she whispers, leaving his room but jamming the door open with a wedge. I can't imagine anyone would like that nickname at all. I also have no idea why there's a doorstopper in his room when he won't even be able to reach the ground to use it. Speaking of things that don't belong in Haru's dorm…

"What's the story with you two, then?" I ask as we go to Zange's room. Their lifestyles are so at odds; you wouldn't think the two would ever want to associate with one another. I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Well, poor fella wanted someone to help him get in the hydrotherapy pool, and since y'all ditched him, I felt I had to step up and do it myself, y'know? Plus, we both have some pretty cool stories to share. He might not admit it, but he's still the same ol' Haru Nishishoka at heart, I'm sure of it." I'm barred from entering the room as the burglar in black and red goes through her drawers looking for something appropriate. Appropriate. Was the way I just behaved appropriate? What would Dr. Andolini have to say about this? For someone living in the most romantic country in the world, that guy was a total prude.

"Here y'are, Zombie," Zange says as she returns with an armful of clothes, mainly red. I don't have time to go through them all right here, but I thank Zange for her assistance as she locks her room up again. We walk back the short distance together as she returns to Haru and I, with my arms full of clean clothes and my mind full of anxiety, unlock the door and enter my dorm room. Hikari's perched on the end of my bed clutching the towel against her front.

"I brought you some clothes," I declare as I place the garments down on the bed next to her. Hikari looks away and refuses to say anything, which is unusual. I suspect she's mad at me for running off like I did. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what came over me in there. This place is messing me up…"

"Shinji… do you like me?" Hikari asks quietly and eerily, finally looking at me with big, wet eyes. She's been crying again and I suspect the towel was used as some form of comfort blanket. I've got to get this right and set things straight, otherwise we'll end up turning on one another just as Monokuma prophesised.

"What kind of question is that?" I ask in return. "Of course I like you. I wouldn't have allowed you to stay in here if I didn't."

"I… I didn't mean to…" Hikari struggles to form her words. "None of the boys ever wanted to play with me. Whenever I tried, they'd run away from me… I thought I'd made you run away, too, Shinji."

"Of course not," I assure her, unfolding the clothes Zange gave me. The sight of several sets of lacy white lingerie mixed in with the red and black shirts, skirts and shorts catches me off guard a bit but for Hikari's sake I need to keep my composure. "But we need to set boundaries. I _do_ like you, don't get me wrong, but I don't want things to get out of hand. I don't want either of us to get hurt."

"I would never hurt you, Shinji," Hikari says insistently. "Not on purpose. Can we still hug?" I look back at her, her hair looking so much tidier than it ever did before, her lithe physique mostly hidden beneath the big fluffy towel, and once more, I'm reminded of Haruka. Of home. Of hope.

"Sure, why not?" I reply, and Hikari drops the towel as she stands up and wraps her arms around me, vowing never to let me go. Compared to the night, she smells so much fresher and feels so much softer. Now I realise what that feeling I felt in the shower was, the sensation that drove me to kiss her when she pulled me close. It wasn't the primal feeling of lust or the romantic throes of love that spurred that moment. It was hope. Hope that one day, the two of us will be able to leave this hospital.

**A.N.: Now this was, by far, the absolute most difficult chapter I've ever written. There were so many ways this could have gone totally wrong, but I did eventually knock out a draft that got the balance I wanted. I hope you folks at home enjoy it. Next chapter will focus on different characters, honest! **


	19. Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price III

**Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price III**

If it were up to Hikari, we'd stay in each other's arms forever, just me and her in this room for eternity. She's still clinging to me like a barnacle on the bottom of a ship, still completely nude, and at this point I don't even know where I should be putting my hands. I try to wriggle free to get my point across and she does eventually relent, but as she sits down next to me on the bed so I can start wrapping her arm up, she pouts at me.

"When are we gonna get out of here?" she asks as I wind the bandages around her elbow, being delicate with the charred, distended flesh in that area.

"Soon," I say succinctly. "Until then, we'll just have to find a way to occupy ourselves." Of course, there is _one_ way… No way. Did I _really _just picture that? Focus on the arm, man. The gross arm that looks like it's been on a barbecue for far too long.

"I want to burn stuff and pretend it's that evil teddy bear," Hikari says. Why do I get the feeling that's a very regular method of coping with stress and anxiety for her? Pyromania's not just a recreational hobby, it's a lifestyle. "Can we see if the map girl will let me have some paper, Shinji?" I reach the edge of her bony wrist with the bandage, and this is the point where I produce the scissors and separate my handiwork from the main roll.

"Maybe," I say, putting the scissors away. I smooth over a couple of creases in the bandages to make it look as neat as possible and tuck in the loose end. Our hands touch briefly, intermingling and almost unleashing that spark of hope once more. "There, doesn't that look better?" I ask as Hikari examines my bandages. Surely they must be better than her usual standard.

"It's all stiff," she complains. Perhaps I wound it a bit too tightly. I should have remembered that her arm was burnt, not broken, and it doesn't need supporting in any way, just covering up. On the subject of covering up, Hikari needs to put some clothes on. I encourage Hikari to peruse the selection of clothes that Zange gave me and almost immediately, several sets of stockings are cast aside. The lingerie doesn't quite fit her properly, as the cups of the bra are still quite empty, but I doubt anyone's going to notice. After much contemplating, she decides to go with a long-sleeved black shirt much like the one that Zange regularly wears, which I have to help her button up, and a pair of red shorts.

"How do I look?" Hikari asks, standing in front of me and putting her hands on her hips. I'm not quite convinced black is her colour, as it contrasts heavily with her fair skin, but considering how little care she usually takes in her appearance, I think she looks alright, although she still refuses to truly embrace her feminine side. Tomboys will be tomboys.

"You look lovely," I tell her, trying to make my smile look as genuine as possible. This is the answer she wanted to hear as she whoops with delight before pouncing on me once more. Her face is barely an inch away from mine.

"Thank you so much," she says before crawling off me and allowing me to stand up. Wow, she didn't try to squeeze the life out of me like a boa constrictor this time. I think we're making progress. "Now let's go!" She bursts out of the door singing the theme to some children's TV show that I only very vaguely recall. It's probably been on in the background while I've had to babysit before. Great, now I'm gonna spend the next week trying to work out what the hell it is. To distract myself from the happy clappy children's song burrowing its way into the back of my brain, I consult my e-Handbook to see where Dulce might be at this precise moment. She's in the waiting room near the reception along with Nayumi, so I take it she's finished mapping out the MRI room.

When we arrive, two things about the situation catch me off guard. The first is that, for once, Nayumi is actually awake, happily using one of Dulce's cartography pencils to draw a picture of a cute rabbit character wearing a dress and wielding some sort of staff with heart adornments. The second is that in Dulce's right hand, she's casually flicking a butterfly knife. Where the fuck did she get that, and how long has she had it? Even more important than all that, does she intend to use it?

"Yo, guys, wassup?" she chimes as she notices us, expertly flicking the knife closed one-handed. "That's a nice outfit you got there, Hikari."

"It's not mine, but yaaaaay!" Hikari replies cheerfully, taking a seat next to Nayumi.

"Dulce, is it really a good idea to be carrying that knife around?" I ask cautiously. In our current situation, someone could easily think Dulce's got murderous intent.

"Relax, man, it's just for show," she says. "Back home things can get pretty rough, y'know? But show 'em a few knife tricks and people leave you alone."

"You don't really need to be thinking about that here, though," I say. She sees my point and stashes the knife away in her pocket before sifting through the assortment of sheets on the table before her.

"I had a look around the MRI room like you asked," she tells me as she shuffles through a pile of papers for the schematics. You'd think it would help in her profession to be a little more organised, but hey, each to their own. "I found some documents, but I couldn't understand 'em. Was like they were written in a whole other language." Well, maybe they _were_ written in another language. Or can she just not read Japanese?

"And what did you do with them?" I ask as she hands me a rather detailed sketch of the room, complete with annotations. Although it's unlikely the documents will help us escape, they may give us a bit of an understanding of just what's going on in this place. More than anything I want to know what that bastard Andolini was doing here and how he earned enough respect to get his own portrait in the ward on the second floor.

"I gave 'em to Daisuke, since I figured he'd be smart enough to understand 'em," Dulce says. "Dunno if he'll ever tell us what they mean though. You know what he's like." Yeah, he's a bit of a dick and even if he _does_ understand them, he's definitely not the type to openly share information that would aid others. He's only interested in getting _himself_ out of here, and he's smart enough to know to let the rest of us get whittled down before he makes his move. You have to wonder just how much of a potential wrench in his plan Ryusuke's death could have been.

"I'll go and speak to him later maybe," I say. Yeah, _maybe._ If I end up getting so bored I feel like gnawing my own face off, I'll allow him to berate me for my very existence on the off-chance that he'll humour me with his interpretation of those documents. Nayumi and Hikari are getting on like a house on fire, both drawing pictures of fluffy animals, although Hikari draws in a much more childish style than Nayumi, who actually seems to be quite talented with a pencil.

"How come mine doesn't look like yours?" Hikari asks, pointing at her crude approximation of a rabbit, then at Nayumi's rather impressive sketch.

"Everyone has their own style," Nayumi says, stifling a yawn. This is the longest I've seen her stay awake since the trial. The contrast between the two girls is ever more apparent now as Hikari frantically scribbles across the page while Nayumi's drawings are done at a much slower pace, with emphasis on the details and shadowing. Just from watching the way people act, you can tell a lot about them without them even having to say a word.

"Hey, there you are!" A voice calls from behind me, and I turn to see Nanima stood in the doorway.

"Yup. What's up, Nanima?" I ask.

"Zygoth sent me to round everybody up. He wants us all to meet in the cafeteria because he has some urgent news that we all need to hear," Nanima says hurriedly. "Oh, it better not be bad news…" She pops the headphones back over her ears and turns away from us. I sincerely hope that's not followed by a nosebleed and the resurgence of those voices. She never visited me last night, so I assume she had sufficient control over her condition despite witnessing Ryusuke's cruel execution. I think it'd be best for us all to go with her.

"Yo, Shinji, where you off to?" Dulce asks as I start making a move.

"Didn't you hear what Nanima said? Zygoth's got news," I reply. "You're gonna regret it if he reveals the way out and you miss it just because you didn't want to move from here."

"_Por el amor de Dios… _Alright, I'll come," she says, standing up and gathering up bundles of paper. "Nayumi, Hikari, you two comin'?"

"If Shinji's going, then I definitely am!" replies Hikari, bounding over the table towards me clutching the pencil and paper she was using. Nayumi moves rather more slowly, clearly not feeling any sense of urgency. She'd better be careful she doesn't fall asleep in the corridor on the way. Me and Hikari join up with Nanima and quickly make our way to the cafeteria, leaving the other two to catch up in their own time. When we arrive I conduct a quick head-count and find that eleven of us are here already. Unsurprisingly, Daisuke's the only one unaccounted for.

"Where's Daisuke?" I ask, taking a seat at the big table alongside the others.

"He's not coming," Rin informs me as Dulce and Nayumi finally arrive, taking their places at the big table. Almost immediately, Nayumi puts her head down on the table and drifts off to sleep. How _does_ she manage? "He said whatever news Zygoth has is probably unimportant, unintelligent and unfounded rubbish."

"Well, I'm sorry I don't have time to submit a research paper to the Japanese Journal of Political Science," Zygoth says facetiously. I notice today's pen colour is white. Is he in mourning or does he always have white on this particular day?

"I say leave the bastard to whatever he's doing," Eizou says. "He thinks he's so much better than us just because he's clever, but I bet he couldn't tell his onyx from his obsidian." I doubt the rest of us could, either. Not all of us are dedicated geologists. Hell, does anyone else in here give a shit about rocks? They're just so _dull._

"Very well. I shall continue without the distinguished critic, but it's his loss," Zygoth announces. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have gathered you here today because just this morning, I received an urgent telepathic message from our representative in the Xandyth system, the Big Giant Head. Alas, the reign of the glorious leader of the Third Moon, King Zaphod the Seven-Hundredth, henceforth known as King Zaphod the Benevolent, is over. His majesty passed away in the night due to a stray meteorite colliding with his forehead." What the fuck is this? He gathered us to tell us _this_? He got Nanima to bring us here so he could ramble on about aliens? No bloody wonder Daisuke didn't bother turning up.

"What kind of meteorite?" asks Eizou. "I bet there are all sorts of cool minerals in those space rocks. Maybe I could be the first geologist in space! No more sailing for me!" It's easy to forget he's the Ultimate Mariner, since that seems to be a bit of a sore spot for him.

"Alas, the meteorite shattered and burned up upon impact, so we will never know," Zygoth laments. "King Zaphod the Benevolent leaves behind his wife, Caligula, and his four-hundred and twenty-six children, eight-thousand two-hundred and four grandchildren, seventy-thousand seven-hundred and sixty-eight great-grandchildren…"

"Nobody cares!" Akira shouts. That's rich, coming from him. "Can't you send this Big Giant Head guy a message telling him to get us out of here?"

"It's only a one-way system," Zygoth replies. Well, that sure is mighty convenient.

"Is there a new ruler in place?" asks Haruki. Why is he asking questions about some space kingdom that Zygoth's probably making up off the top of his head?

"Yes," says Zygoth. "King Zaphod the Seven-Hundred and First's coronation will take place next Tuesday, officiated by the legendary Lord Wonnacott of the second moon of Xandyth, Baagen-Hunt." Was there any actual point to any of this? I thought he was going to announce something important, like how there might possibly be some way out of here, or perhaps simply a rousing speech to keep us from falling into despair. Not _this._ I don't even know how I'm supposed to describe that speech.

"Even the games I play have more sensible plots than this," Nanima says.

"Life is hardly ever sensible," Zygoth says wisely. "Just look where we are now. Does this hospital strike you as being in any way sensible? There's an entire, fully furnished library and gym sharing a floor with an MRI scanner. In what world could you ever consider that sensible?"

"Beats me," says Eizou, shrugging heavily.

"It's very utilitarian," Rin says. "We don't really know what this hospital is for. We can theorise, perhaps, but maybe this is how it's meant to be set out."

"There's not nearly enough room for the actual patients to stay," Alicia says. "If it was indeed fully functioning…"

"Is any of this speculation really important?" I ask. "I mean, it's not like we're planning on staying here forever, is it? You've not all stopped looking for a way to escape so soon, have you?" As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret speaking up.

"Puhuhu! Did someone just say _escape?_" Fucking Monokuma. The evil bastard crawls out from beneath the table, scampering up my leg and seating himself in my lap.

"Get off!" I yell, although I try not to actually touch our headmaster in case that counts as a violation of the rules. I dread to think what happens to rulebreakers. Whatever fate awaits them, it'll be messy.

"Alright, alright, not like I wanted to sit near you anyway," Monokuma says, leaping off me and onto the table.

"The fuck are you doing here?" I ask, irritated as ever by his mere presence. If he brings up the shower incident, it'll be hard to ignore the urge to break the bear's neck.

"Watch your language around your headmaster, Shinji!" Monokuma chastises me, waggling a paw in my face. "Didn't your mother ever wash your mouth out with soap? Kids these days and their manners… what _is _the world coming to?"

"Why is _he_ here?" Nanima asks loudly.

"Because I'm bored," answers Monokuma. "Bored of you all sitting around, being nice to each other!"

"Surely you have better things to do with your time than watch us endlessly," Rin says.

"Do I?" Monokuma asks, looking around in a confused manner. "How presumptuous of you to assume my life must be so full of mirth and merriment that I don't have to watch you all succumb to glorious, wonderful despair…"

"Stop it! We'll never listen to you ever again," Hikari says, shaking a box of matches threateningly.

"Why, even my favourite pupil's turned against me! You bastards and your infectious, disgusting _hope!_ It sickens me to the core!" Whoever's controlling this thing has got absolutely no attention span. If they spent a day in my shoes, they'd probably kill themselves. "Why, Shinji, you should be ashamed of yourself, taking advantage of such a poor, vulnerable girl like that..."

"Don't even go there," I growl, clenching my fists beneath the table.

"Puhuhu! I wasn't even going to mention the fact you two showered together! I just meant you've filled her empty little brain up with hope! How _dare_ you!" Well, fuck. Hoist by my own petard there. Alicia bursts out laughing, but nobody else is particularly amused. I feel myself blushing, my face flushed with embarrassment as our kiss enters my mind once more. Thank Ishtar he's not brought _that_ up or I'd have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

"That's not exactly what happened…"

"Huh? Are my cameras broken then? Was that footage of you two underneath the shower-head together just a fabrication like the moon landings? Or did you think all that steam would fog up my cameras so I couldn't see it? How adorably naïve! Puhuhu!" Seriously, give it a fucking rest already.

"You ain't gonna pass judgment on me and Haru, then?" Zange asks.

"Why would I ever want to watch _him_ with those weird non-functioning legs and that clunky chair thing? Eeeewwwwww! I think I might just bring up my breakfast if you guys keep this up!" Monokuma mimes sticking a paw down his throat and retching. Good to know that our captor's prejudiced against the disabled.

"Why don't you go talk to Daisuke?" Eizou asks. "You two'd get along great, I'm sure."

"You mean Mister Ego up in the library? Why, that'd be a fate worse than _death!_ And speaking of death..." His voice rises even higher with that last word, which doesn't bode well for any of us. "Would sure be nice if someone were to help things along!" He nudges Zygoth with an elbow, making an attempt to wink that glowing red bat-winged eye, but of course that doesn't work so the ordinary black bead will have to suffice.

"Don't you think you're rather rushing things?" Zygoth asks.

"Rushing? You'll have to forgive me, that's not a word that forms part of my extensive vocabulary! Do explain this concept of 'rushing' to me if you'd be so kind," Monokuma says condescendingly.

"It's barely been any time at all since the last murder. You can't expect there to be a constant cavalcade of cadavers. There needs to be a refractory period to let everyone recover, and most importantly of all, let _despair_ accumulate. You, of all people, should know it's more beneficial to allow the despair to build up into a spectacular crescendo!" Zygoth's attempting to reason with our captor. I'm impressed, but I'm not convinced it'll work. Plus, his enthusiasm could totally be interpreted the wrong way. It might be worth keeping a close eye on him just in case he does have something sinister planned.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiine," Monokuma says, and if he were capable of rolling his eyes, he would have done so in that very moment. "But if you guys don't make a start real soon, I'll be forced to take matters into my own paws…" His maniacal laugh reverberates as he backflips off the table and seems to sink into the floor. Seriously, how does he manage that? The first few times, it could have been put down to conveniently placed trapdoors, but in the consultation room and just now, it looked like he just phased right through the floor. Has someone finally mastered teleportation?

"Where is he now?" asks Hikari with a match already lit in between her fingers.

"Gone," is the simple monosyllabic answer I give. There is no other way to describe his disappearance, one moment he was there, the next he wasn't. "You might as well put that out. I don't think he's coming back for a while." Huffing in discontent, she does as she's told and blows the match out, leaving just a small wisp of smoke behind.

"So… anyone got anything to add to this enlightening discussion?" asks Haruki. Nobody does. "Alright then. Guess we might as well just leave it there for today. But before we all leave, I have just one thing to say to you all. I know you're all still mad at me for not trying to stop Ryusuke or Eiko from getting themselves killed, and that's fine. I realise you lot liked them a hell of a lot more than you like me right now. So here's my offer. If that bear comes back and forces us to kill someone, I offer myself up as a sacrifice to atone for my sins. I know it won't bring them back, and it probably won't save whoever kills me, but I'd be saving _most_ of you." If he thinks that's going to get him back into our good books, then he's delusional. All of us were trying to forget about that whole ordeal and he just brazenly goes and brings it back up again.

"There's no need to make that promise," I say, looking him directly in the eyes. Or I would be if he wasn't wearing sunglasses indoors like a prat. "Nobody else is gonna die. We won't give in to Monokuma that easily." With that, I stand up and motion for the others to join me. After grabbing a quick lunch, it's time to decide what to do with the rest of my day…

**A.N.: Yeah I'll admit this one is a bit of a filler chapter. Had a tough time squeezing out ideas recently but managed to cobble this together. A lot of my other ideas require there to be a certain amount of time passed, so the next chapter will be a Free Time session that should see us through to the point where I can start doing some more crazy stuff. Also, it's my birthday tomorrow :D **


	20. Chapter 2: Free Time I

**Chapter 2: Free Time I**

I was hoping that perhaps I'd be given the chance to consider my options during lunch, but right as the last morsels of ramen pass my lips, Hikari sneaks up behind me and grabs my wrist.

"You can do stuff without me, you know," I tell her, but by this point I'm already flying out of my chair and out of the cafeteria. I'm starting to get used to this now so it's not quite as jarring and painful as previously, and I'm able to pivot and move my feet of my own accord relatively quickly this time. At least there's no stairs to worry about falling down this time round.

"Nayumi's going to show me how to draw a salamander," Hikari says excitedly. That's a surprising choice of animal. Salamanders aren't very cute. Especially not those giant ones, those things are downright creepy, and certainly not the sort of thing I ever pictured Nayumi having any sort of interest in.

"Do I really need to be there for this?" I ask. It really does appear that she's taking my promise never to run from her again rather literally, so I begrudgingly allow her to bring me back to the waiting room, where the supplies were first abandoned and Nayumi is already waiting, sneaking in a quick nap. Thankfully, Hikari's unable to draw with just one hand, as the paper would just slide around all over the place, so she's forced to let my arm loose when Nayumi wakes up.

Once she's sufficiently engrossed in trying to draw a slimy amphibian, I start considering my next course of action. I should probably go up to the library and speak to Daisuke at some point about those documents Dulce gave him. However, before I get the chance to slink away, I spy the Ultimate Cartographer again with her arms full of paper, delivering extra supplies to the two amateur artists.

"'Sup, Shinji?" she says. "Wanna hang out for a while?"

"Did we not just do that earlier?" I ask. "Besides, I kinda need to go to the library and see Daisuke about those documents."

"You can always do that later, man," Dulce says. "I got some neat knife tricks I wanna show you." What would I rather do right now? Face Daisuke's insults or be around someone who actually views me as a human being? When you put it that way, it's an easy choice. I suppose it can't hurt to get to know Dulce a bit better, unless her knife slips out of her hand. She takes me back to the cafeteria and insists I sit opposite her as she shows off some admittedly impressive knife tricks. I've never had much interest in weapons, but her dexterity with the blade has to be admired.

"I can throw this thing pretty far, too," she says, aiming it behind me as though preparing to throw it at a potential assailant. Being on the receiving end of that thing is a pretty unpleasant prospect.

"Your home doesn't sound particularly safe," I say, stating the obvious. I don't actually know exactly where she's from or how she even ended up here at Hope's Peak Academy, but I hope to find out soon enough.

"It ain't," she freely admits, even smiling as she says it. "Seriously, our village is like, a hotbed for crime. Looters, beggars, thieves, drug smugglers, we got it all, man." Well, doesn't that sound just delightful? Yeah, don't think I'll be booking a flight there any time soon. "Nobody's clean in our village. And I don't mean we don't take baths, I mean we're all involved in crime in one way or another."

"Really? What were you involved in?" I ask. It's hard to imagine someone as chilled out as Dulce being some kind of hardened criminal. I suspect there must have been a degree of coercion involved, peer pressure or family pushing her to become involved in the criminal lifestyle.

"Drug trafficking," she replies nonchalantly. That's some heavy stuff she's dropping there, yet she acts like she just doesn't give a damn. Growing up in a place like that must really fuck you up. "We grew and sold a lot o' marijuana in our village, man. You ever smoked weed, Shinji?"

"Can't say I have," I inform Dulce truthfully. I tend not to dabble in anything illegal, and I don't even particularly like alcohol. Idiots I've encountered on Nanima's stream chat have told me 'smoking a bowl' would totally get rid of my insomnia, but I'm far from convinced a mere plant can override my so-called talent. Can't really see the point in deliberately taking things that'd fuck your senses up, if I'm totally honest, but everyone's different.

"You gotta try it, man," Dulce says, almost mimicking those guys from the stream chat. "Nothing like getting high for free and just chilling out with some trashy American cable show on TV. Not that I get the chance to do that often. Gotta keep the supply moving before the cops arrive, after all." At least she's not trying to prescribe it to me for medical purposes.

"So you were a dealer?" I ask for clarification.

"Well, somebody's gotta be," she says. "How's it supposed to move around otherwise? Can't exactly advertise it out in the open, can you? See, I'm the youngest in my family, so when I was a kid, that was all I could really do. Dad would send me out with the supply and a map to wherever in the village it was and I'd just walk. I spent days and nights out in the middle of nowhere just walkin' til I got to where I was supposed to be." That doesn't sound like the most stable of households. I'm pretty sure that would fall under some form of child abuse if it happened in this country.

"How old were you when you started that?" I ask.

"Eh, probably about ten or so." Ten? That means while I was in Italy making regular visits to Dr. Andolini's clinic concerning my insomnia, Dulce was possibly already being forced on long journeys to sell illegal substances. "Once I got older though, he stopped givin' me maps. Said if I wanted to start earning money, I could figure the way out myself. And that's kinda what I did. I had to steal my first set of pencils and stuff, but once I had that I was set."

"Somehow, you got so good at it you ended up here," I remark.

"Well, I've always had a bit of an eye for detail and stuff, so whenever I did my maps, I'd make sure they were really detailed. Plus it helped me get around when I was high. That's happened a few times. Like, even when I got called up to this school, I was super high. I laughed when I read the letter 'cause I thought it was a joke, but then they came to visit me in person and flew me out here." Being inducted into Hope's Peak Academy is definitely no joke. Being foreign she may not have realised the enormity of the invitation, but still… "Later on I found out that my maps were the only ones that existed of that area, because it was so damn dangerous nobody else was willing to go there. Like, nobody has GPS in our village because if you use it, you get nothin'."

"Technology, eh?" I say flippantly. My first experience with a sat-nav ended with us lost miles from our actual destination with the device yelling out random directions in Italian. Turns out when it says 'turn left,' what it really means is 'if you like driving down very narrow country roads, go this way.'

"Yeah, I never trust that stuff," Dulce says. "Then again, all our stuff was bootlegged so y'know, probably not the best. But yeah, I still got the original copies of all my maps. Even got some with notes on sayin' whether or not cops would go there. Had to mix things up once I started headin' outside the village, y'know?" Dulce's probably the most laid-back person I've ever known in spite of living a life of crime that sounds like a gritty novel. I've got to respect her remarkable ability to cope, even if sometimes she doesn't quite seem clued in. "If you ever wanna see 'em, let me know, okay?"

"Sure thing," I say. "I'd stick around, but I kinda need to go and see what Daisuke made of those documents." Not something I'm particularly pleased about, but for our sakes, it must be done. While she may not have learned much more about me, I know a lot more about Dulce's rather eventful past than I previously did, and that's what matters. She's not a bad person even though she got mixed up in the criminal underworld, she just did what she had to do, and I respect that. In many ways she's probably more prepared than a lot of us for what might await us all in this hospital.

I thank Dulce for the good times and go back the way I came. I was sort of hoping to get through the waiting room undetected, but Hikari seems to have a sixth sense for my presence and the literal moment I set foot in the room, she turns around and squeal with delight, waving a sheet of paper around. Nayumi, as usual, is fast asleep in her chair.

"Look what I drew!" she shrills, and I've not got much choice but to go over and look at what she's drawn. It appears to be some kind of bipedal lizard with a flame on its tail.

"I thought you were drawing a salamander," I remark.

"Well, we talked a bit and decided it'd be even more fun to draw a Charmander," Hikari says. Of course she'd find a way to spice it up with added flames. I wonder if she even chose the salamander in the first place due to its place in folklore or just because it's a funny-sounding word.

"It's good," I say, lying through my teeth. One of its arms is shaped like a noodle and it's so bow-legged it looks like it has rickets. It's pretty clear that all of the actual effort went into the flame on its tail because that actually looks half-decent.

"Yay! Will you draw something with me, Shinji?" she asks, hovering dangerously close to me.

"I'm not very good at drawing," I say. My art skills do leave a lot to be desired, so it's not a total lie.

"Nayumi can teach you, too," Hikari advocates, but I find myself blurting out something about needing to go to the library and run off, thankfully without Hikari in pursuit. I hurtle up the stairs as fast as I dare and swing a sharp left once I hit the double doors, absolutely intent on reaching the library. As he was when I left him this morning, Daisuke's sitting in a comfy-looking armchair with a large pile of books beside him. An important-looking folder has been deposited on the desk close to him, but it looks as though it's remained undisturbed.

"I did rather hope my recreation wouldn't be interrupted again," Daisuke says without even looking up from the page.

"Sorry," I mutter. "Dulce wanted to know if you read the stuff she gave you." He snorts derisively at the mere mention of the Ultimate Cartographer's name.

"Tell her, if you must, that I haven't got round to it yet," he commands.

"Will you ever?" I ask. "There could be some important information in there. Might just help us get out of here."

"If you absolutely insist, I suppose I'm left with no choice but to cooperate for fear of further ostracising myself," says Daisuke, dramatically slamming closed the book he's reading. I guess he's intelligent enough to remember what page he was up to without using a bookmark. "Now, as someone with a modicum of intellect about you, you might be appreciative of a rare live session of critical analysis. A pity I couldn't say the same for your lady companion. What say you, Shinji?" Well, I guess I can't really turn him down. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I sit myself down in another old chair as Daisuke give an extremely detailed, in-depth analysis of the abstract themes and concepts of several seminal Russian novels, all written by people with unpronounceable names. Most of it goes completely over my head but I can't help but be engaged. It certainly encourages me to put a new spin on things.

"How do you come up with all this stuff?" I ask afterwards, developing a slight headache from trying to process so much information at once. Sure, I spend a lot of time reading stuff, but never did I think there was so much to most of it.

"My, you disappoint me, Shinji," he says. "I'd rather hoped out of this lot, you'd be the one who might comprehend the foundations of being a critic!"

"Well, I'm not as smart as you," I say. "I just have a lot more time on my hands than most people, that's all."

"I, too, have spent many a night lying awake contemplating the nature of life itself or composing my next critique. Oftentimes, I spent much of the morning after in bed, seeing no reason to move from my sleeping quarters." Sounds like he's living the dream. Or the college life, not that he'd ever need to go to college. He's already got several degrees worth of knowledge in his head. "But enough of that. Now, I must truly test your worth! Have you ever heard of the Algernon-Gordon effect?" The what?

"The hell's that?" I ask, perhaps a little too abrasively. He gives a slight chuckle of contempt at my answer.

"I expected as much," he replies. "The Algernon-Gordon effect refers to the belief that 'artificially-induced intelligence deteriorates at a rate of time directly proportional to the quantity of the increase.' Normally, I would include a citation whenever I quote another work, but not in this case! Such a ludicrous statement, of course, could only exist in a work of fiction. However, I find it startling that even within the text from which it originates such a piece of research could ever be taken seriously!" Where is he going with this?

"I'm not really following," I'm forced to admit, not being familiar with whatever it is he's referring to.

"Picture this: A formerly mentally-handicapped man is suddenly enriched with sufficient intellect to finally understand the world around him, and this intelligence continues to expand until suddenly he finds himself to be, quite literally, the smartest man in the world." What is this, his autobiography? "Now, imagine said individual, through observing the behaviour of the original subject of the procedure that enriched his mind, a mouse, our intellectual protagonist begins to conduct his own research that defies everything that several leading, well-established psychologists have been working on for years. Worse yet, these men think of him as a revolutionary and take him at his word! Any man worth his salt knows you cannot reach a valid conclusion from a mere two participants!"

"But they were the only two in the world, right?" I ask. You can't collect more data than there is data to collect, surely?

"And that's precisely the problem with this entire hypothesis!" Daisuke declares, really getting into the hammering of this weird made-up research paper. "I appreciate that, to drive the narrative onwards, it was imperative that this research was conducted and this conclusion reached, but my enjoyment of the narrative is stymied somewhat by its total illogicality! If one were to approach an established scientific journal with a paper you'd written on the nature of artificially enhancing intelligence where the only two subjects are yourself and a dormouse, rest assured, you'd be laughed out of the room. In the cold, harsh world of empiricism, it's totally unfeasible that the realm of neuropsychology would have been rocked by the Algernon-Gordon paper." When Daisuke gets going, he really gets going. He's definitely honed his craft to perfection and rightfully earned his place in Hope's Peak Academy, it has to be said.

"So basically, it doesn't work," I say. That's all I've managed to get from all this. Human and mice aren't even similar. When you put it that way it does sound sort of ridiculous. Then again, it's not real, so why is he taking it so damn seriously?

"See, you do understand it!" Daisuke replies, relieved that I've sort of kept up with it. "The last person I attempted to explain this concept to merely asked 'what happened to the mouse?' to which I replied 'that's completely irrelevant to the issue at hand!'. My point is that as a critic of all disciplines, the way in which the world of neuropsychological research is portrayed in this novel is simply unacceptable! One would need _years_ of theoretical background to support the financing of such research in the first place, then subjects willing and able to give consent would have to be found and closely monitored throughout the procedure and afterwards. Indeed, Doctor Nemur does this with his single human subject, but even so, I find it to be insufficient."

"You've lost me again." This is so confusing. How long has he been going on about this shit?

"If I must provide a simple conclusion, then so be it. No matter how intelligent a man may be, no matter what his personal perception of the situation may be, whether it is right or wrong, you cannot base conclusions off such a small sample of data! All parties are at fault for this, Nemur, Strauss et al. for the woeful decision to select one human participant after just one successful animal trial, the scientific community for never questioning this poor level of preparation, and of course, Charlie Gordon himself for not seeing, despite his genius, that correlation does not necessarily equal causation, and thus his research should not have been the nail in the coffin for this intelligence-granting procedure." But then, going by this, would there even be a story if that had happened?

"Is that not the whole point? From what you've told me it sounds like the fact that the scientists cocked up is what makes the story. The way you've tried to fix it would mean there's nothing to tell." Daisuke actually applauds my response, a reaction I really didn't anticipate.

"A marvellous observation," he declares. "It appears my appraisal of you was correct. You see, this is what being a critic truly is. You listened to my argument and instead of merely accepting it, you've presented an excellent counter-argument. Perhaps I'll make you my Ultimate Understudy, hmm?" I don't think I'm quite ready to fill those shoes yet, but I appreciate the compliment. For once, Daisuke's actually got something positive to say. Now that we've got a library and he can take his time out in here, maybe he'll chill out a little.

"I'm fine being the Ultimate Insomniac, thanks," I say, rising from the big armchair. "Anything you'd recommend I take out before I go?"

"If you want to prove your mettle, I strongly suggest James Joyce's Ulysses," he says. "Alternatively, for a bit of lighter reading, you could start off with a bit of Nabokov." Instead of heeding his words, I pick out several manga volumes that I've been meaning to get round to as well as Sun Tzu's Art of War, a bit of a dissonant selection but it should last me a couple of nights. I find another chair near the aisle of Chinese literature and make a bit of a start on my collection. Ordinarily I might be concerned about the damage Hikari might be causing, but she seems to be in capable hands. I'm engrossed by a volume of Gantz for a while, but then a shadow falls across the pages, obscuring the panels.

"Do you want me to make sure Daisuke actually looks at that folder?" asks Rin. It's only natural that the Ultimate Librarian is making this place her home. "He still hasn't touched it yet, you know."

"I should probably just take it myself," I say. "I don't think he'd mind too much. If anything it'd be a relief."

"I don't know about that," says Rin. "He seems very protective of his personal space. And for what it's worth, I think Ulysses is rather overrated." Well, she's the librarian, so I suspect she'll know what's good in terms of literature. Good job I wasn't intending on picking that one up.

"Is there ever a time you don't listen in on other people's conversations?" I ask. That pretty little notebook of hers must be getting quite full by now. Before I receive my answer, I'm interrupted by the repetition of the nightly announcement, serving as a reminder that we all remain in the captivity of the black and white bear of despair.

"I've always been a rather curious person," she says, playing with the hem of her jacket. "I just can't help being interested in other people's business. Like the little rapport between you and Hikari. I think it's delightful." More like she's delightfully misinformed. If she somehow knows about that kiss in the shower…

"It really isn't," I say. "Our arrangement is only out of necessity." She reaches into her pocket for her notebook and pen, as though she feels a need to amend her previous notes.

"I find that very hard to believe," she says, and I exercise my right to remain silent in case anything I say in the next few minutes is used as evidence against me. "Being truthful will benefit you in the long run, Shinji. I'll only find out if you're lying to me. You should probably get back to her; I hear she doesn't like the dark…"

**A.N. Yay for more filler content, although this time it's Free Time. Sorry this one took a bit, been out and about doing Christmas shopping and stuff so yeah. Also at the last minute swapped out a Free Time event I'd planned for a different one because it fits better with the established chronology than my other plan (which you'll most likely be seeing in the next set of Free Time events). **

**Also, I got a very special birthday gift from JokersMaze, a piece of ShinjixHikari fanart :D See it at image/105043949867 (I'll put the link on my profile too so you don't have to type it out manually). I know I'll have told you this a ton already, but thanks so much for that, it really made my day :3**


	21. Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price IV

**Chapter 2: Paying the Iron Price IV**

After assuring Rin that I'll remember to bring the books back when I'm done with them, I return to my room with the various volumes, but my movements are hampered by the fact I've not eaten anything for a long while. Worse luck, the cafeteria's closed at night, so already we're off to quite the bad start. I can't allow myself to dwell on that though, because that's the road that leads to despair. The road that must be avoided at all costs.

I arrive at my room to find Hikari sitting outside it with a tray from the cafeteria resting next to her. Upon it lies a single plate with a few limp slices of pizza on it and two coffee cups, which could either be boiling hot or stone-cold depending on how long she's been waiting out here for me. I can tell she's been eating some of the pizza though because there's sauce around her mouth.

"How long have you been waiting for me?" I ask. I'm actually worried my actions could have caused her quite some distress. I should have gone back as soon as I picked up my books to make sure she was alright, but I didn't anticipate getting quite so caught up in my reading.

"Hours," she says, and the guilt is like a sucker-punch to the gut. Once I'm out of her sight, she becomes lost without anything to distract her. While I don't think it's a bad idea for me to have entrusted Nayumi with her safety because it's good for Hikari to make friends in this place other than myself and arguably Zygoth, ultimately she's my responsibility whether I like it or not, as she's imprinted on me like some sort of mad pyromaniac gosling. She'll follow me to the ends of the Earth, and I've not been nearly as attentive to her as I should be. "I knew you'd come back, though. You said you would, and here you are!"

"Yeah, I am. And I am _so_ sorry about that. Come on, let's get this room open." I put down my pile of books as I rummage in my pockets for the dorm room key, keeping a cautious eye on Hikari just in case her pyromaniac tendencies win out. I seriously can't get this room open fast enough, I'm starving and worrying about what my oddball roommate might have been getting up to in my absence is _not_ helping matters. As soon as the lock pops and the door starts swinging open, Hikari scoops up the tray, balancing it surprisingly well given her swift and erratic style of movement, and enters the room, dumping it on the bedside table and throwing herself down onto my bed. Once I've gathered up my books, I follow, ensuring the door is closed behind us so Monokuma can't pay us a surprise visit in the night, although I suspect if he wanted to he could just materialise in here anyway.

As expected, the pizza's cold and has the same consistency as cardboard. I've had the real thing in Italy and nothing here will ever be able to compare to actual authentic Italian food, but I can't afford to be picky so I eat it regardless. It's not even particularly filling, but with my weird metabolism it might just keep me sane until morning. I flick on the bedside lamp so that I can read and I notice Hikari's staring directly at me, patting the bed beside where she's lying.

"Come on in," she says. "It's comfy." Now that's just asking for trouble.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I reply. "Besides, what's the point? I don't sleep anyway."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Silly me!" How do you forget that the Ultimate Insomniac never sleeps? That's literally my whole thing. What the hell, Hikari? Oh well. Soon enough she's asleep and I return to reading by the dim light of the bedside lamp. I take one of the coffee cups and it doesn't immediately burn my hand off so I assume it's stone cold, and actually drinking some of the stuff confirms it. There's a reason we drink coffee hot, and that's because at low temperatures it's absolutely rank. Honestly I don't know why I drink the stuff, it's not like I need the caffeine to keep me going, but it's one of those habits I've picked up over the years. I put the coffee back, not really relishing the prospect of drinking more, and continue where I left off in the library.

After a few hours, or what I assume to be a few hours, of reading manga with the accompanying sounds of Hikari's snoring and near-constant shuffling around, my eyes start screwing with me, going in and out of focus almost at random, distracting me from my reading. It's perfectly reasonable to assume that at this point, my lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. It's been nearly four days since the last time I slept (although I'm not quite sure if just collapsing outside the school counts as falling asleep as such) and even the Ultimate Insomniac can't go that long without sleep before things start getting weird.

I close my eyes, giving them a bit of a rest from the strain of reading by the bad lamp light, keeping my hands rested on the pages so I can keep my place. Reading about the exploits of a bunch of teens having to play a deadly game in the underworld is perhaps not the wisest idea I've ever had because that feels like what we're doing right now. Instead of getting rewarded 100 points for a kill, though, we get our life in the outside world back. I can totally see why Eiko snapped and tried to murder her way out of here. She was so dependent on her flock for support, she had nothing to fulfil her as long as she stayed trapped in here. Her religion _was_ her life, and after a couple of days away from her followers with no way of contacting them in the outside world or any chance of new recruits to swell the ranks even further, she went off the deep end. Scary to think that was only yesterday…

Now I find myself worrying about what Monokuma said about potentially taking matters into his own paws. What exactly would that entail? Will he choose to off one of us to get the ball rolling? Or will things be done in more subtle ways? For the first time since going down in that lift to the courtroom, I feel genuine fear washing over me. No two ways about it, this place is dangerous, and as much as I want to be able to trust everyone and be able to get out of here without losing anybody else, I have this terrible feeling that more of us won't make it. I'd place more value on some lives than others, but we're all peers, we're all Ultimates, and every one of us lost to the world is a huge blow for our respective fields of expertise. Well, not that I really have one of those, but for my family and friends at least, the news of my death would be devastating. Even so, I must never allow myself to lose hope.

My train of thought is interrupted by someone knocking on my door, and while Hikari shifts her position in bed slightly, she doesn't wake up. I put my book down, hoping it stays open and doesn't lose my page, and creep across the room to open it to whoever's visiting at this hour. Standing in the corridor is Nanima, wearing a set of long black pyjamas with tousled hair and no make-up on, which in the low light makes her look like a wandering spirit. I never knew she looked so gaunt without her foundation on.

"Sorry for disturbing you at such a late hour," she says. She's still got her headphones around her neck and her little handheld gaming system clutched in her hands. Some things never change. "May I come in?" she asks politely. Of course, I made the promise, didn't I? Gantz will have to wait, we've got bigger fish to fry now.

"Sure," I say, moving out of the way so she can enter my room and closing the door as quietly as I can to avoid waking Hikari, although she seems to be quite a heavy sleeper. "I'm not used to seeing you without make-up."

"When you're on camera, you have to look your best," Nanima explains. "You're the first of my fans to ever have seen the _real_ me. Who knew being happy could be so exhausting?"

"Is that what you're worried about? Your fans in the outside world?" I can't have her become the next Eiko. We'll find a way to get her back streaming soon enough, I'm sure.

"Not really…" The best non-answer in the world. If that's not the case, then I have to assume the voices have made their return and are whispering words of despair in her ears.

"Is it the voices again?" She nods silently and I usher her over to the vacant green chair so she can open up and give me all the details. That godawful pizza might've tasted like compacted trash, but it's at least given me the energy to stand for a while.

"It's not just voices this time," she says. "You saw that big portrait of the creepy doctor in the second floor ward, right?"

"Yeah, I know the guy." Too fucking right I know the guy. He only went and tried to convince me that I had deep psychological traumas that needed to be unearthed and that until I told the truth and admitted it, I'd be doomed for all eternity. Considering he was an ardent Catholic who sincerely believed that premarital sex should carry a prison sentence and had absolutely no inhibitions speaking very loudly about these believes in the presence of a confused insomniac child, I took his words of wisdom with a grain of salt.

"I saw him. He was standing there, in the corner of my room. He told me I was a bad girl and I needed to take my medicine." The one time the bastard actually does his job properly, he's a hallucination. Isn't that just grand? That does raise a fairly good question, though.

"Are you on medication? This sounds like something that could probably use some."

"I've been on all sorts of stuff over the years," she confesses while Hikari rolls over beside us, still snoring away. "Citalopram, benzodiazepine, chlorpromazine, clozapine, fluoxetine, even herbal remedies have been tried, and none of them really worked very well. When we first got here, I stayed in the storeroom because I thought I might find something else in there, something stronger, that might work, but I couldn't find anything that looked like it would help." It really does sound like she was on the edge of despair before I arrived on the scene. I've got to do everything I can and be supportive of her when she needs it. I'm taking on a lot of responsibility here, but realistically, who else is there she can turn to? A lot of the others might mean well but I don't know how they'd handle something as intense as this.

"Is that the real reason you went back there before the murder happened?" I ask, trying to determine if the story of the missing cartridge was just a cover-up to hide her condition from the others.

"That wasn't what that was about at all," Nanima says quickly, indicating I've spoken out of turn. "I hate this place. I hate it, hate it, _hate it!_ All my fans are waiting for me in the outside world, for me to bring them smiles and happiness, and I can't do that for them. What use am I when I can't make people happy?"

"You don't have to be anyone other than yourself to make people happy. This place would definitely be duller without you around. I'm sure everyone likes you. Well, except maybe Daisuke, but even he's not so bad once you get to know him." Both of us share our frustrations, although I occasionally come up with something that sounds vaguely encouraging, until the morning announcement rings out, by which time Nanima is totally exhausted. As Monokuma's shrill voice fades, Hikari finally stirs awake, blearily rubbing her eyes and clearing away the nasty gunk that built up in the night.

"Oh, I'm _so _sorry! I kept you talking for such a long time! But thanks for listening!" Nanima says, gathering herself and beginning to make her way to my door. Just as she's about to leave I have an idea.

"You wanna come and get some breakfast with us in a bit?" I ask. After the night we've had it's the least I can do for her.

"Sure, that sounds nice," she replies. At last, there's a smile on her face, and although she looks a little worse for wear, she'll probably be hiding that beneath her foundation. "Let me sort myself out and I'll be there!" She closes the door behind her, leaving me to the Herculean task of trying to get Hikari to shower without my assistance. I have no desire to find myself in that situation again but she's being particularly difficult this morning and I have no choice but to relent. However, I decline her offer to hop in the shower alongside her due to the events of yesterday. The internal turmoil our kiss caused tells me that escalating things further at this stage might not be the way to go. Her clinginess this morning means I don't get the chance to get changed myself, but honestly, I don't think a lot of people will really notice.

"Sooooo… what was Nanima doing here last night?" she asks as she's still drying herself off.

"She had another of her... what's the right phrase? Attacks?" Seriously, what _is_ the correct term for those? I should probably ask, but Nanima's probably not going to be willing to divulge further information about her condition if anyone else might be present. "She just needed a safe place to calm down." Hikari freezes, holding the towel just away from her body and letting it drip all over the floor. Is she getting jealous?

"And you let her…"

"Well, of course I did. She needed help and she didn't have anyone else to turn to late at night. What else am I supposed to do?" We're having a domestic disagreement. Shit, we really _are_ turning into a couple, aren't we? What's next, finding all my possessions dumped out in the corridor? If that _did _happen, chances are they'd be in the form of ashes.

"You said you'd never do anything to hurt me, and then… you go and do _that!_" Hikari yells. Where did this come from all of a sudden? She's caught me off guard, so I end up staying silent. "I can't believe it! You should've known how that makes me feel!"

"Hikari, calm down," I say, holding out my hands in self-defence in case she goes for me, although our vow means she'll probably not resort to physical violence. "If I'd known you were gonna get this upset about it, I would've done things differently. The dynamic between me and Nanima is totally different to the one between us two." Yeah, I'm an ascended fan of a girl suffering from some sort of debilitating mental illness. That's somewhat different to being forced to room-share because a girl lost her key and decided you're her best friend in the world.

"Promise me you'll never let that happen again! Don't let her sit on the green chair!" Wait, hold on a second. This is all because I let Nanima sit down on that fucking green chair? I did _not_ see that one coming. At least now I know that there isn't a dispute about the fact I spoke to another girl, which is quite a relief, otherwise I'd be barred from interacting with half the other students.

"Okay, fine. We'll work something out for next time," I promise.

"Yippee!" Hikari squeals, flinging the wet towel right across the room. Guess I might as well take that along for the laundry. I make sure Hikari's at least partially dressed in some of Zange's finest silk undies before I open my door, and when I'm confident nobody else is coming, I make a break for it, shutting the door but leaving it unlocked while I collect yesterday's laundry and throw in the fresh load. Upon my return, Hikari's dressed in a rather fetching red and black blouse and shorts combination of a very similar style to Zange's usual outfit, which gets the thumbs-up from me. The Ultimate Burglar's got a surprisingly good eye for fashion.

"I'm so hungry, I could eat a bear!" Hikari declares.

"Get one of the bento boxes," I recommend. "That's as close as you're gonna get in this place."

"Don't be silly!" she chides me. "A simple bento box will _never_ be enough to stop my hunger! I'm a big girl now, so I need a big breakfast." Well, I tried. On reflection, there's no telling how she would've reacted to seeing Monokuma's face recreated in rice. We wait around for Nanima for a short while, but eventually Hikari gets bored and I'm powerless to stop her running off into the kitchen and cooking up another monstrous meal. I pick something a bit more meagre off one of the counters, not really paying much attention to what it is, and get another cup of coffee before noticing that on the table closest to me, Daisuke and Eizou seem to be trying to resolve their differences. The Ultimate Mariner has several different rocks lined up in front of him, and in his hand he holds what looks like a nugget of gold.

"That's clearly a chunk of pyrite," Daisuke declares. "Its more colloquial name is, of course, fool's gold. Do you take me for a fool?"

"You're the first to ever get that right," Eizou says, putting the chunk of pyrite back down on the table and picking up something black and shiny. "Alright then, what's this one?"

"That would be onyx," Daisuke replies almost instantly. "You are aware I've done a degree in geology, aren't you? I completed that course alongside molecular chemistry, quantum physics and microbiology the other year."

"Really?" asks Eizou, aghast at having finally found his match in the Ultimate Critic and his almost certainly artificially-enhanced IQ.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I may not have been entirely truthful," Daisuke says. "I dropped out of geology halfway through because I found it agonisingly dull." For extra emphasis, he yawns loudly upon finishing his sentence. In one motion, Eizou sweeps all his rocks into one of his massive pockets and stands up, turning away from Daisuke in disgust. As the big fellow walks away to the other corner of the cafeteria, Daisuke spots me at last. "Goodness, Shinji, you look like you haven't slept."

"Very funny," I say, completely deadpan. I used to get that all the time at school. Even the teachers would pull me aside and ask if I wanted to be sent home because I didn't look well. Monokuma doesn't seem like the kind of headmaster who'd give me a sick note though. "Did you have a look at that folder?"

"Of course I did!" he declares brashly, producing the very same folder. "It was incredibly easy to comprehend. In fact, I implore you to read it yourself instead of have me regurgitate its contents to you. A bit of independent research would do you some good."

"Could you at least tell me what's in it?" I ask. Just because _he_ gets it doesn't mean I'm going to be able to make a lick of sense out of it.

"Let me put it this way. That folder was found in the MRI room. Perhaps that'll give you a clue as to its contents." MRI scanners can be used for all sorts of things. I can't possibly be expected to be able to interpret the results correctly; I'm not a qualified doctor or anything like that. Even so, he puts the folder down on the table and pushes it toward me. Guess I'm not gonna get much choice in the matter. I take the folder with me to another table and wait for Hikari to arrive back with whatever concoction she's cooking up. There's still no sign of Nanima, though.

There's no point in delaying, so I flip open the folder while I eat my breakfast, which appears to be some sort of sandwich. To my horror, awaiting me on the very first page is my own face, staring right back at me from a small window. Is this some kind of trick? Apparently not, as I read the information set out on the page and confirm that my details are all correct, even including my Ultimate title for some incomprehensible reason. Aside from this, there's a very detailed history of my insomnia treatment and the various other clinics I've been to. I'd write this off as a coincidence, or possibly another of Monokuma's tricks, but there's a Cresthaven Hospital watermark in the top-right corner which seems to suggest this is a genuine medical file.

I turn the page and see what must be the results of the MRI scan. Images of scans of various parts of my body, but mainly focused on my brain, have been secured to the front page with a paperclip, and I can't help but separate them all out and try to put the pieces together. Where do all these scans come from? I don't remember having an MRI done before. The only thing I can think of is that these must have been done when I collapsed as some sort of weird pre-killing game assessment or something. There's no other explanation for it that I can come up with.

'_Ding, dong, ding, dong!' _I don't have the luxury of time to allow this to all sink in before the dreaded bells ring out once more, which can only mean one thing. Monokuma's got something to say.

"Attention, students! This is a _very_ important announcement, so listen carefully! I've scheduled you all an immediate appointment with our locum doctor, Doctor Killgood, so please head to the reception as soon as possible. By which I mean right now! Chop chop, don't keep him waiting!" Doctor Killgood? That doesn't sound ominous or suspicious at all… I hate to have to postpone my arrangements, but I doubt we're gonna have a choice in this matter. Nothing for it but to go and see what Monokuma wants.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.: Merry Christmas to all my followers! And of course, everyone else who's read this far. Alas, I couldn't deliver on the promise of a festive ShinjixHikari fic but I hope some more fanart can make up for that. First of all is a piece from KomoriRin depicting Shinji, Nayumi, Ryusuke and Hikari (<strong>**image/105469068529****), and then we've got another fabulous piece from JokersMaze of Eiko going slightly nuts (**** post/106076093832/the-green-ram-has-shown-me-the-light-haruki). Consider all this a little Christmas present for you all. Once again I have to thank you all for your kind reviews, because the past few months while I've been writing this have been a pretty rough patch in my life, and you're all slowly helping me pull through it.**

**Happy holidays, folks, and stay safe!**


End file.
